Beijing warns US will ‘bear all consequences’ if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan in August
- An earlier plan to visit the self-ruled island in April was cancelled after Pelosi tested positive to Covid-19
- Financial Times reports divisions in the US administration over whether Pelosi should visit Taiwan as part of her Hawaii and Asia visit
A Financial Times report on Tuesday said Pelosi would take a delegation to Taiwan next month. It would be the first visit by a US speaker of the house to the self-ruled island in 25 years.
Pelosi would be the most senior US lawmaker to visit the island since one of her predecessors as speaker, Republican Newt Gingrich, travelled there in 1997.
The lawmaker and her delegation is expected to visit Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. Pelosi will also spend time in Hawaii at the headquarters of the US Indo-Pacific Command. But the report said it was still possible the trip could be called off.
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China warns US against possible visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called on the US not to arrange Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, which he said would “seriously undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.