Beijing: China warned Tuesday that US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan disregarding its stern warnings will have a ‘severe impact’ on bilateral ties. China also said that the visit by Nancy Pelosi ‘gravely undermines’ regional peace and stability. Chinese official media indicated Tuesday that the military will launch a series of ‘targeted’ operations against Taiwan to counter Pelosi’s trip.
Pelosi landed Tuesday night in Taipei, according to the television footage shown by US networks. She is the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
After Pelosi arrived in Taiwan, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strong statement. It said Pelosi’s visit is a ‘serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques’.
“It has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-US relations, and seriously infringes upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The visit gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for ‘Taiwan independence’. China firmly opposes and sternly condemns this, and has made serious demarche and strong protest to the United States,” the ministry said.
There is but one-China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, the statement further said.
This has been clearly recognised by United Nations General Assembly Resolution and 181 countries have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle, it said. “The one-China principle is a universal consensus of the international community and a basic norm in international relations,” the statement further said.
In 1979, the United States made a clear commitment in the China-US Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations – ‘The United States of America recognises the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China’, the statement pointed out.
“China is all along opposed to the visit to Taiwan by US congressional members, and the US executive branch has the responsibility to stop such visit,” the foreign ministry stated.
“Since Speaker Pelosi is the incumbent leader of the US Congress, her visit to and activities in Taiwan, in whatever form and for whatever reason, is a major political provocation to upgrade US official exchanges with Taiwan. China absolutely does not accept this, and the Chinese people absolutely reject this,” the statement informed.
Citing the Ministry of National Defence, state-run ‘Global Times’ reported that the Chinese military ‘will launch a series of targeted military operations to counter Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan island and resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity’.
It said PLA Eastern Theater Command will hold joint military operations around Taiwan, with joint maritime and air drills in North, South West, South East of island, long-range artillery shooting in Taiwan Straits, and conventional missile test firing in sea regions East of island starting Tuesday night.
As the Taiwan media reported Pelosi’s arrival, the Chinese official social media reported large scale military movement in the Taiwan Straits.
PLA Air Force’s Su-35 fighter jet(s) is crossing the Taiwan Straits, state-run ‘China Daily’ reported, citing a social media account. Posts in the Chinese social media ‘Weibo’ showed footage of armoured vehicles on the move in the southern Chinese city of Xiamen – a port city on China’s southeast coast facing Taiwan.
Arriving by the US Air Force plane, Pelosi and her delegation was received at the tarmac of the Taipei airport by Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. She flew from Malaysia as militaries of China, Taiwan and the US went on full alert amid high voltage rhetoric from Beijing objecting to her visit, saying that it is violation of its sovereignty as Taiwan belongs to it.