China warns its military will not ‘sit idly by’ as Pelosi visits Taiwan

NANCY PELOSI is expected to visit Taiwan this evening despite repeated warnings from Beijing that it will “not sit idly by” if the trip goes ahead.

While the US House speaker has refused to confirm that she will stop in Taiwan during a wider Asia tour, reports of the trip have inflamed tension between Washington and Beijing.

The rumoured visit will go ahead and Ms Pelosi is expected to spend the night in Taipei, said a Taiwanese government official and a US source cited by CNN.

The US defence department is monitoring Chinese movements in the region and is working to guarantee the security of the US speaker during her stay, according to the report.

In a Chinese foreign ministry briefing yesterday, a spokesman warned the Chinese Liberation Army will not “sit idly by” if Beijing’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity” is threatened. The Chinese military engaged in live-fire drills in waters next to Taiwan as Ms Pelosi arrived in Singapore for her first stop of the tour, where she met Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister, who urged her to seek stable ties with China.

British MPS are also planning a visit to Taiwan later this year, The Guardian reported yesterday.

The Commons foreign affairs committee is planning a trip for November or early December. The visit was scheduled for earlier this year but was postponed after members of the group tested positive for coronavirus.

Beijing considers Taiwan, an island with a democratically elected government, as its territory despite never having governed there.

As such any official engagement by a foreign dignitary is considered by the Chinese government to be an affront, and a failure to recognise its declared sovereignty over the tropical island.

China “misread US politics” and “picked the wrong target”, Kharis Templeman, a Taiwan expert with the Hoover Project, said of the stand-off. “Biden doesn’t control the speaker or any other member of Congress.”

As House speaker, Ms Pelosi is third in line to succeed the US president, and one of the country’s most influential politicians – a role Beijing has claimed as evidence that she is acting on behalf of the White House, without recognising the US has separation between branches in government.

John Kirby, Joe Biden’s national security spokesman, said that the White House had spoken to Ms Pelosi before the trip. He said: “There’s no reason for the Chinese rhetoric. There is no reason for any actions to be taken. It is not uncommon for congressional leaders to travel to Taiwan, it is very much in keeping with our policy and consistent with our support to Taiwan.

“We shouldn’t be intimidated by that rhetoric, or those potential actions.”