U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday that her trip to Asia was never intended to change Taiwan or the regional status quo, but the United States would “not allow” China to isolate Taiwan. Her previous visit to the self-governing island angered Beijing.
“They may try to prevent Taiwan from visiting or participating elsewhere, but they cannot isolate Taiwan by preventing us from traveling there,” she told reporters in Tokyo.
“Senior senior senators from both parties visited (to Taiwan) this spring. Ongoing visits, we will not allow them to isolate Taiwan.”
Pelosi is currently on a visit to Japan, the last stop of her Asia tour. On this trip to Asia, she defied harsh threats from China to become the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Taiwan in years.
Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory and has vowed to one day retake the self-governing island — by force if necessary. In response, Beijing launched its largest military exercise yet around Taiwan.
Pelosi did not comment directly on the PLA’s military exercises, but reiterated that her visit to Asian countries, including Taiwan, “is not intended to change the status quo in the region.”
“We have said from the beginning that our representation here is not to change the status quo in Taiwan or the region,” she said at a news conference after a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
“It’s about … all the legislation and agreements that set our relationship. Keeping peace in the Taiwan Strait, maintaining the status quo,” she said.
Tokyo said on Thursday that five missiles believed to have landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone during military exercises by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
Fumio Kishida called China’s missile launches a “serious issue that affects our national security and the safety of our citizens.”
Fumio Kishida said Japan had “called on (China) to immediately cancel the military exercises”.
(This article is based on an AFP/Reuters report.)