China’s Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng has urgently summoned US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns to protest US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
KYIV. UkraineGate . 3. August . 2022 | Political News .
Details
Xie Feng called Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan “vicious” and said it “seriously undermines peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” and sends “wrong signals to separatist forces” who favor Taiwan independence.
China’s deputy foreign minister added that the US government should be held accountable. During a conversation with Nicholas Burns, he expressed “strong protest” against Washington’s actions. He called on the United States to “immediately correct the mistakes and take practical measures to eliminate the adverse consequences caused by Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.”
Quote
“This move is extremely egregious in nature and the consequences are extremely serious. The United States must not continue to follow the wrong path, increasing the tension in China-US relations and making the situation in the Taiwan Strait irreparable,” Xie Feng said.
Context
Taiwan and China split in 1949 after the Communists won a civil war on the mainland. The US maintains informal relations and defense ties with Taiwan. Beijing, for its part, sees Washington’s official contacts with Taipei as an encouragement to make permanent the island’s decades-old de facto independence, a move US leaders say they do not support.
Before
On Tuesday, August 2, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan. According to local media, she is the highest-ranking US official to visit the island in more than 25 years.
China has warned that its military “will not sit idly by” if Nancy Pelosi continues her visit. China’s threats of retaliation have raised fears of a new crisis in the Taiwan Strait that could negatively impact global markets and supply chains.
In response, the White House said that Pelosi has the right to visit Taiwan. It added that China appears ready to respond in the coming days, possibly with military provocations.
Source: Ukrgate
