Beijing is ready to take tough measures to prevent the speaker of the House of Representatives from going to Taiwan. Until the interception of a government plane.
Speaker of the lower house of the US Congress Nancy Pelosi may visit Taiwan next week, writes The Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin.
“Diplomatic sources report that Speaker Pelosi's visit to Taiwan will be held at the beginning of her Asian tour. Pelosi's office says the trip is possible, but not confirmed,” the columnist tweeted.
Diplomatic sources tell me Speaker Pelosi's visit to Taiwan next week is expected to happen, in the early part of her Asia tour. Pelosi's office says trip possible, but not confirmed.
– Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) July 29, 2022
Pelosi's Asian tour will begin on Friday, July 29 , write NBC News. The Speaker heads the official delegation of the US Congress. Pelosi plans to visit Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. A visit to Taiwan is indicated in the schedule as “possible”.
Read also: Biden had a conversation with Xi – they talked about Ukraine and Taiwan
On July 25, the Financial Times, citing sources, reported that China had sharply warned the administration of the US president about its readiness to prevent Pelosi's upcoming trip to Taiwan. Earlier, Beijing publicly threatened “tough measures” if Pelosi did not abandon the planned visit. Until the interception of a government plane.
The US views Pelosi's possible visit to Taiwan as support for democracy and freedom amid the growing threat from China. China considers Taiwan as its territory and allows the forceful seizure of the “rebellious island”.
Russian aggression against Ukraine has exacerbated the security contradictions between China and the United States – from the sovereignty of Taiwan to the rivalry in the Indo-Pacific region in general. This situation causes great concern in Taipei itself. After all, Putin's victory in Ukraine may become a signal for more aggressive actions on the part of China. Read more in Natalia Butyrska's article “Why China does not want Ukraine to defeat Russia“.
