Beijing warns Washington of 'consequences' if Pelosi visits Taiwan
Nancy Pelosi, leader of the House of Representatives, plans to visit Taiwan next month despite everything.
A caveat: China warned on Wednesday that the United States will have to bear “all the consequences” of a visit by US Representative Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan amid Sino-US tensions.
The remarks come ahead of a phone call scheduled for the next few days between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden.
Frictional issues between Beijing and Washington have increased in recent years : South China Sea, growing influence of China in Asia-Pacific, war in Ukraine or even Taiwan.
China considers the island, with a population of 24 million, to be one of its historical provinces, although it does not control the territory.
Beijing opposes any official contact between Taiwan and other countries. The Chinese government has increased military and diplomatic pressure against the island since the 2016 election of a Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, from an independence party.
At the same time, China-US tensions have also increased with several US arms sales to Taiwan and the visit to the island of US politicians who came to offer their support to the authorities.
< p class="e-p">Nancy Pelosi, leader of the House of Representatives and as such one of the most senior figures in the American state, is still planning to visit Taiwan next month, according to press information.
She didn't confirm whether she would make the trip well, but she said she thinks it's important for us to show support for Taiwan.
China warned on Monday that it stood ready to respond to such a visit. Beijing reiterated its firm opposition during a press briefing on Wednesday.
If the United States persists in challenging China's red line with this visit to Taiwan, they will face strong measures in response and must bear all the consequences, said a spokesman for Chinese diplomacy, Zhao Lijian.
He was responding to a question about press reports that the US military would increase its activity in Asia-Pacific in the event of a visit by Nancy Pelosi.
This possible trip to Taiwan is only a hypothesis for the time being and is being debated within the US government itself.
Unusually, Joe Biden himself noted last week that the US military felt the visit was not a good idea.
Controversy is unwelcome for the US president because of the call with Xi Jinping, presented as imminent.
It also comes at a time when Mr. Xi, China's most powerful leader since decades, is preparing to strengthen his power during the Communist Party Congress, to be held later this year.
Taiwan enjoys broad support in the US Congress, and threats from Beijing have only sparked calls for Ms. Pelosi to maintain her trip.
The United States United, like the vast majority of countries in the world, does not officially recognize Taiwan. But they strongly support the island, highlighting its democratic status. And Washington is Taipei's most important arms partner and supplier.
Seeing in this American activism an attack on its sovereignty, China has increased the pressure against Taipei in recent years. air defense identification Adiz, in English from Taiwan, several hundred kilometers however from the coast of the island.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken estimated last month that these incursions were a sign of increasingly provocative rhetoric and activity from Beijing.
Joe Biden had provoked the anger of Beijing by asserting at the end of May that the United States would intervene militarily to support Taiwan in the event of an invasion by China.
He then went back, affirming his attachment to strategic ambiguity.
Taiwan, which has its own government, currency and military, does not 7;never proclaimed formal independence. China threatens to use force if that were the case.
