Currents News Staff
Tensions are tightening between the United States and China as the U.S. House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, arrived in Taiwan Tuesday.
“As we can see, such a visit is apparently very much dangerous and very much provocative,” said Zhang Jun, the Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations.
Pelosi is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the democratic, self-governing island in a quarter of a century. Her trip comes at a low point in U.S.-China relations as China escalates it claims that Taiwan is its territory.
“We will not take the bait or engage in saber-rattling. At the same time, we will not be intimidated,” said John Kirby, the National Security Council Strategic Coordinator for Communications.
Chinese president Xi Jinping is expected to seek an unprecedented third term at the upcoming Chinese Communist Party Congress.
As a result, Chinese party officials are expected to soon begin laying the groundwork for that conference by putting pressure on the leadership in Beijing to show their strength.
“We’re keeping a close eye on Pelosi’s trip,” said Hua Chunying, Spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “If the U.S. insists on going its way, China will take firm and strong measures to safeguard its sovereignty and security interests.”
The White House is also reacting saying Pelosi’s trip is consistent with America’s One China policy.
“For China to try to turn what is in the historical norm into a crisis or to try to use it as a pretext for action around Taiwan, that’s on them,” said Jake Sullivan, U.S. National Security Adviser. “And they will be the ones who’d be escalating.”