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| Nancy Pelosi | Speaker of the House |
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Chinese-claimed Taiwan late Tuesday aboard a US military plane, the first such visit in 25 years and one that risks bringing Washington-Beijing ties to a new low.
Pelosi and her entourage were received by Taiwan's foreign minister, Joseph Wu, and Sandra Oudkirk, the chief US official in Taiwan, after disembarking from a US Air Force cargo plane at Songshan Airport in downtown Taipei.
"Our congressional delegation's visit to Taiwan celebrates America's unshakable commitment to Taiwan's flourishing democracy," Pelosi said immediately after arriving in a statement.
"America's support for Taiwan's 23 million people is more crucial than ever, as the globe faces a decision between despotism and democracy."
Pelosi was on a trip to Asia that included stops in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan. Her visit to Taiwan had not been publicised, although it was highly expected.
Chinese jets circled the Taiwan Strait line before her arrival on Tuesday, as China's leadership cautioned against Pelosi, who is second in line to the US presidency and a long-time critic of Beijing.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday that US lawmakers who "play with fire" on the Taiwan issue will "come to no good end."
The United States stated on Monday that it would not be frightened by Chinese "sabre-rattling."
According to a person familiar with Pelosi's agenda, the majority of her planned meetings, including one with President Tsai Ing-wen, were slated for Wednesday. According to four sources, she planned to meet with a group of activists who are vocal against China's human rights record on Wednesday afternoon.
Pelosi, 82, is a close ally of US President Joe Biden, both of whom are Democrats, and has played a significant role in shepherding his legislative agenda through the US Congress.
Taiwan's foreign ministry said it had no comment on Pelosi's visit plans, and her office similarly remained mute.
Taiwan's tallest structure, Taipei 101, lighted up with inscriptions such as "Welcome to Taiwan," "Speaker Pelosi," and "Taiwan (love) the USA" on Tuesday night.
Reuters reported that four Chinese jets flew close to the median line dividing the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday morning before departing later that day. Several Chinese vessels have also been sailing along the unofficial dividing line since Monday, according to the source.
The Chinese aircraft frequently "touched" the middle line before circling back to the opposite side of the strait, the individual added, as Taiwanese planes stood by nearby.
Normally, neither side's aircraft crosses the median line.
Four US warships, including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, were on normal deployments in waters east of Taiwan, according to the US Navy. According to Reuters, the carrier had transited the South China Sea and was currently in the Philippines Sea, east of Taiwan and the Philippines and south of Japan.
It was working with the guided missile cruiser USS Antietam and destroyer USS Higgins, as well as the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli.
In Kuala Lumpur, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi meets Malaysian Parliament Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun.
Visits by US officials to Taiwan are seen as a positive signal by China to the pro-independence side on the democratic, self-governed island. Beijing believes Taiwan to be part of its territory and has never refrained from using force to seize control of the island. Taiwan opposes China's sovereignty claims, claiming that only the island's people can decide its fate.
Although the United States has no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, American law requires it to assist the island with the tools to defend itself.
'State Provocateur'
Taiwan's Defense Ministry stated that it was well aware of military activity near Taiwan and that it will respond accordingly to "enemy threats."
Requests for a response from China's defence and foreign ministries went unanswered.
Residents in the southern Chinese city of Xiamen, which borders Taiwan and has a major military presence, reported seeing armoured vehicles.
Chinese social media was ablaze with both fear of impending violence and patriotic fervour.
"In the face of the United States reckless disregard for China's repeated and serious representations, any countermeasures taken by the Chinese side will be justified and necessary, as is the right of any independent and sovereign country," foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a daily briefing in Beijing.
During a phone chat last Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping cautioned Biden that the United States should follow the one-China principle and that "those who play with fire will perish by it." Biden informed Xi that the United States' position toward Taiwan has not changed and that Washington strongly opposes unilateral moves to alter the status quo or threaten peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
According to White House national security spokesman John Kirby, Beijing's retaliation might include launching missiles near Taiwan, large-scale air or naval operations, or other "spurious legal arguments," such as China's claim that the Taiwan Strait is not an international waterway.
"We will not bite the bait or ratchet up the tension. Simultaneously, we will not be intimidated "Kirby stated.
Bonnie Glaser, a Taiwan specialist at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, warned reporters over the phone that the Pelosi visit would be difficult to repair.
"We've all seen how horrible this relationship has gotten over the last year. And I really think Nancy Pelosi's visit will bring it to an all-time low "Glaser said. "And I believe it will be extremely tough to recover from that."