SINGAPORE —
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday kicked off an Asia tour that has been
shrouded in secrecy following an escalation in tensions with China over Taiwan.
اضافة اعلان
With no word if
Pelosi will visit the island, she stopped first in Singapore, where Prime
Minister
Lee Hsien Loong urged her at a meeting to strive for “stable” ties
with Beijing.
Her itinerary
also includes Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan, but a possible Taiwan visit has
dominated attention in the run-up.
Reports about a
plan to visit the island have enraged Beijing and caused unease in the White
House, with President Joe Biden trying to lower the temperature.
Beijing
considers self-ruled Taiwan its territory — to be seized one day, by force if
necessary — and said it would regard a Pelosi visit as a major provocation.
Pelosi’s office
confirmed her Asia trip in a statement Sunday once her plane was in the air,
following days of US media speculation and the speaker refusing to confirm her
itinerary.
“The trip will
focus on mutual security, economic partnership, and democratic governance in
the Indo-Pacific region,” it said, referring to the Asia-Pacific.
The statement
did not mention Taiwan. But visits by US officials there are usually kept
secret until delegations land.
And as
speculation mounted, both foreign and local media cited unnamed sources Monday
to report that Pelosi does indeed plan to include the island on her Asia tour,
while the Financial Times said she would meet with President Tsai Ing-wen on
Wednesday in Taipei.
‘Bury all enemies’
The Global Times,
China’s state-run tabloid, suggested that Pelosi
might use “emergency excuses like an aircraft fault or refueling” to land at a
Taiwanese airport.
“If she dares to
stop in Taiwan, it will be the moment to ignite the powder keg of the situation
in the Taiwan Straits,” Hu Xijin, a former Global Times editor and now
commentator, tweeted.
And the Chinese
army’s Eastern Theater Command shared footage on social media site Weibo
featuring a combat-ready army with fighters and helicopters taking off,
amphibious troops landing on a beach, and a stream of missiles raining down on
various targets.
“We will bury all
enemies who invade our territory,” a short text accompanying the footage read.
“We’re ready to
fight,” it added. “Advance towards a joint combat and a victorious war.”
Taiwan’s 23
million people have long lived with the possibility of an invasion but the
threat has intensified under Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The US maintains
a policy of “strategic ambiguity” over whether it would militarily intervene
were China to invade.
While it
diplomatically recognizes Beijing over Taipei, it also backs Taiwan’s
democratic government and opposes any forced change to the island’s status.
American
officials often make discreet visits to Taiwan to show support but a Pelosi
trip would be higher-profile than any in recent history.
Taiwan’s
government has remained silent on the prospect of a Pelosi visit and there has
been minimal local press coverage.
The last House
speaker to visit was Newt Gingrich in 1997.
Biden and Xi had
a tense phone call last week clouded by disagreements over Taiwan.
Xi issued an
oblique warning to the US not to “play with fire” over the island.
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