PLA will not sit idly by if Pelosi visits Taiwan island, defense ministry warns
After the Chinese Foreign Ministry stressed that China had made sterner warnings to US officials and China is fully prepared for any eventuality over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s potential Taiwan trip on Monday, the Chinese Defense Ministry on Tuesday vowed that if the US insists, the Chinese military will by no means sit idly by and strong measures will be taken to thwart any external interference and “Taiwan independence” separatist attempts.
Tan Kefei, a spokesperson of China’s Ministry of National Defense, said on Tuesday that if Pelosi, as the No. 3 US politician, visits Taiwan, it will be a serious violation of the one- China principle and the three China- US joint communiqués, and it will seriously damage China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the political basis for China- US relations. It would certainly cause severe damage to bilateral military relations and lead to escalating tensions across the Taiwan Straits.
China demands the US to fulfill its commitment of not supporting Taiwan secessionism and not arrange Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, Tan said, noting that if the US persists, the Chinese military will by no means sit idly by and will take strong measures to thwart any external inferences and “Taiwan independence” secessionist attempts and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Tan’s remarks indicate that PLA is fully prepared for all responses if she does visit the island,” Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times that the US executive branch is very worried that this potential visit will cause a conflict to break out between China and the US, or even trigger a crisis.
Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said he believes Pelosi has seen clearly that those incited her to go to Taiwan are mostly Republicans who only want to create more chaos in the US so they can get more gains in the midterm elections.
No matter how divided the US politicians are on the issue, one thing for sure is that the Chinese mainland will by no means make any concessions on the issue, and the response will not just target Taiwan but also the US, as European politicians and Japanese politicians may want to follow the US, Yuan Zheng, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.