China warned Washington on Wednesday that it would “bear the consequences” if US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan. Tensions have been soaring ahead of an expected phone call between the two countries’ leaders.
After reports emerged last week that Pelosi could visit self-ruled Taiwan in August, China did not back down. The potential visit is likely to dominate a phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US counterpart Joe Biden, which the US leader has said he expects will take place this week.
Beijing this week warned that it was “getting ready” for a possible visit by Pelosi, which would be the first to Taiwan by a sitting US House speaker since 1997.
“We are firmly opposed to Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference Wednesday.
“If the US pushes ahead and challenges China’s bottom line…the US side will bear all the consequences,” he added.
The visit comes at a fragile time, with Chinese President Xi Jinping preparing to cement his rule this year at a major party meeting.
Last week Biden said the US military thought a visit was “not a good idea right now”.
Taiwan is a self-ruled democratic country that is in constant peril of an invasion by China, which views it as part of its territory to be held by force if necessary.
Pelosi told reporters last week it was “important for us to show support for Taiwan,” while denying Congress was pushing for independence for the island.
The US House speaker has been a constant critic of Beijing’s human rights record. In 1991, she outraged her hosts by unfurling a banner in Tiananmen Square in memory of pro-democracy demonstrators killed there two years earlier.
CIA chief Bill Burns said last week that Xi appears committed to the option of using force against Taiwan, despite lessons from Russia’s struggles in Ukraine.
“I wouldn’t underestimate President Xi’s determination to assert China’s control” over Taiwan, he said.
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