U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday remained mum on a reported trip to Taiwan, while the White House responded to China’s anger over the speaker’s possible visit by saying there was no sign that Beijing has increased military activities near Taiwan.
While it has been reported that the speaker would depart for Asia on Friday with the trip to include a stop in Taiwan, Pelosi said she did not want to discuss her travel plans when asked to comment on the rumored trip in a weekly press briefing.
“I don’t ever talk about my travel because, as some of you know, it’s a security issue. It’s a security issue for every member of Congress traveling — especially abroad,” Pelosi said.
“But for the speaker it is an additional security issue and for those traveling with me — not just members, but staff,” Pelosi added.
On Thursday, NBC News reported that Pelosi, who is second in line to the presidency, would lead a congressional delegation to Asia to visit Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore with a “tentative” itinerary for Taiwan.
While she declined to discuss her potential trip to Taiwan, Pelosi still spent time elaborating the ties between the United States and the Asia Pacific region.
“As a West Coast person we see the Pacific as, you know, that’s our — that’s our home. We’re part of that as well. That is not to diminish the importance of our transatlantic relationships as well,” Pelosi said.
“I’m very excited, should we go to the countries that we — you’ll be hearing about along the way about how — the conversations we have now.”
Pelosi’s rumored trip to Taiwan was first reported on July 18 by the Financial Times, which cited six people familiar with the matter as saying that the 82-year-old Democratic lawmaker is planning to lead a delegation to Taiwan in August to show support for Taipei as it faces increasing pressure from Beijing.
U.S. President Joe Biden, however, on July 20 reacted by saying the military thought that “it’s not a good idea right now” though he also added “but I don’t know what the status of it (the trip) is.”
China has expressed its strong opposition to Pelosi’s rumored plans. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian (???) called on Washington to “stop creating tensions over the Taiwan Strait.”
On Thursday, Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (???) conducted a two-hour and 17-minute phone conversation, which among other things focused on the issue of Taiwan.
After the call, Xi was quoted by the Chinese official news media as saying that he had told his American counterpart “those who play with fire will eventually get burned.”
In response, John Kirby, spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, told reporters that China has been responding with some bellicose rhetoric after the reports of a potential trip by Pelosi surfaced.
“There’s no need for that kind of rhetoric,” Kirby said.
Despite the strong statements from China, Kirby said the White House did not see any signs that it was building up its military actions ahead of the possible trip by Pelosi to Taiwan.
“We’ve seen no physical, tangible indications of anything untoward with respect to Taiwan,” Kirby said.
However, China has announced it will conduct live fire drills on Saturday in the waters off its Fujian province, which is on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.
Regarding the two leaders’ phone call on Thursday, Kirby said Biden and Xi had a “frank” and “forthright” conversation to reflect the “consequential, important relationship” of the top two economies in the world.
“The president believes it is very important to keep an open line of communication with President Xi, especially (because) we do not agree on everything,” Kirby sad.
The call on Thursday was the fifth time the two leaders spoke with each other since Biden took office in January 2021. According to the White House, Biden reiterated to Xi Washington’s opposition to the unilateral changing of the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel