Pelosi trip to Taiwan draws ire of military

THE Chinese military will not sit back if US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan, a Chinese defense spokesperson warned yesterday.

Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to a press inquiry regarding the issue.

China demands that the United States honor its promise that it would not support “Taiwan independence,” Tan said, adding that if the US side insists on making the visit, the Chinese military will take strong actions to thwart any external interference or “Taiwan independence” separatist scheme, and will be resolute in safeguarding China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Chinese side has repeatedly made clear to the US its firm opposition to Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan, Tan noted.

“If Speaker Pelosi visits Taiwan, it would seriously violate the oneChina principle and the stipulations in the three China-US joint communiques, seriously harm China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and seriously damage the political foundation of China-US relations,” the spokesperson said.

It will inevitably result in extremely serious damage to the relations between the two countries and the two militaries, and lead to further escalation of the tensions across the Taiwan Strait, Tan added.

Pelosi will lead a delegation to Taiwan in August, the Financial Times reported last week, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The trip would make her the most senior US lawmaker to visit the island since 1997.