US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will visit Taiwan next month, a move that will trigger furious reactions from Beijing, the Financial Times reported.
Citing six people familiar with the matter, the report said Pelosi would take a delegation to Taiwan in August. 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.
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The lawmaker and her delegation will visit Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. Pelosi will also spend time in Hawaii at the headquarters of US Indo-Pacific command. But the report said it was still possible the trip could be called off.
Pelosi originally planned to visit Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a breakaway province that can be taken by force if necessary, in April. But that trip was postponed when she tested positive for Covid-19.
At that time, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the trip was a “malicious provocation”. In early July, Wang told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the US should not send any signals of support for Taiwan independence.
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“The US must not underestimate the firm determination of the Chinese people to defend territorial sovereignty, and must not make subversive mistakes that ruin peace across the Taiwan Strait,” Wang was quoted by Xinhua as saying in the talks with Blinken.
Other Chinese diplomatic observers said in April that Beijing would likely impose sanctions against Pelosi, step up military exercises over Taiwan and suspend cooperation on climate change with the US.
The Financial Times reported there were divisions in the US administration over whether Pelosi should visit Taiwan, with some believing it would have been easier to justify a visit in April, just after the start of the Ukraine war.
Pelosi’s office would not confirm if she was planning to visit Taiwan or Asia.
Washington is building closer ties with Taiwan. Former US defence chief Mark Esper is currently making a four-day trip to the island.
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