Concurrently with Possible visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi To Taipei, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense announced today, Monday, that 4 Chinese fighter jets penetrated the island’s airspace.
The ministry confirmed raising the state of maximum alert in preparation for a possible visit tomorrow, Tuesday.
For its part, the US National Security Council announced that Washington would not succumb to the Chinese threat over Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, stressing the Biden administration’s support for a possible visit.
“You’ll stop for one night”
This comes at a time when US and Taiwanese sources close to the military reported, today, Monday, that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will stop in Taiwan, tomorrow, Tuesday, for one night.
Simultaneous US-Chinese exercises
The US sources said that an aircraft carrier, 3 submarines and 36 US warships will participate in maneuvers in the Pacific Ocean.
Simultaneously, China also announced live-fire exercises to coincide with Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
On Monday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry renewed its warnings of the consequences of Pelosi’s visit to Taipei, if it decided to add Taiwan to its destinations in its Asian tour.
Our military will not stand idly by.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said: “In the event that the Speaker of the US House of Representatives visits Taiwan, the Chinese army will not remain idly by.”
The latest warning was issued during a regular briefing by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, where ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that because of Pelosi’s “number three in the US administration”, the visit to Taiwan “will have a serious political impact,” according to “Archyde.com”.
Asian tour
Nancy Pelosi arrived in Singapore early Monday morning at the start of her Asian tour.
Nancy Pelosi
A spokesman for the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Pelosi will meet President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and will meet a number of government ministers, and is expected to attend a party with the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.
In a statement issued over the weekend, Pelosi said she would visit Malaysia, South Korea and Japan to discuss trade, the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, security and democratic governance. News reports did not confirm that she might visit Taiwan.
China’s president warns
For his part, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against interfering in Beijing’s dealings with Taiwan during a phone call last week with his US counterpart, Joe Biden.
If she makes the visit, Pelosi would be the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan since former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997.
The Biden administration has tried to reassure Beijing that there is no reason to “attack”, and that if such a visit occurred, it would not signal any change in US policy.