There is no reason for China and the US “to come to blows” should US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visit Taiwan during her current trip to Asia, the White House said on Friday, underscoring the international tensions surrounding her travel plans.
The remarks by National Security Council spokesman John Kirby came as Pelosi offered a rationale for a visit to Asia that she had not before stated.
She referred to US President Joe Biden’s focus on Asia and referenced his recent trip to South Korea and Japan, telling reporters: “He has visited there, his vice president has visited, the secretary of commerce and others, and we want the Congress of the United States to be part of that initiative.”
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Seeming to stop just short of saying she would make a stop in Taiwan, Pelosi said: “I’m very excited that should we go to the countries, that you’ll be hearing about along the way about the conversations” she would have there.
The US has seen no evidence Chinese preparations for military activity against Taiwan, Kirby said.
“[We have] seen no physical, tangible indications of anything untoward with respect to Taiwan,” he said.
However, China yesterday morning held live-fire military drills in the Taiwan Strait, which Beijing announced via state media yesterday.
The maneuvers were limited in scope and took place off the island of Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, about 120km from the coast of Taiwan, the statement reported by Chinese media said.
Pelosi and her aides have not confirmed her travel plans or named the countries she might visit, citing security concerns.
China has objected strenuously to any Taiwan visit by Pelosi, warning of “resolute and strong measures” if she does.
Biden said earlier this month that the Pentagon thinks a Pelosi trip to Taiwan is “not a good idea right now.”
In Taipei, defense officials who briefed reporters on Friday declined to discuss any potential preparations for a trip.
Biden has designed his foreign policy in part around countering China’s growing economic and military might. Pelosi’s itinerary has also become a domestic political issue, with some Republicans urging her to visit Taiwan to stand up to Beijing.
Kirby said on Friday that Pelosi “does not need nor do we offer approval or disapproval” for travel, adding: “The speaker is entitled to travel aboard a military aircraft.”
The military routinely supplies aircraft for travel by lawmakers, which presidents have authority to deny. In a highly unusual move, then-president Donald Trump blocked Pelosi and other lawmakers from using a military aircraft to visit Afghanistan during a 2019 dispute over a government shutdown, and after she told him to delay his State of the Union address.
Although US officials often make discreet visits to Taiwan, Pelosi is second in line to the presidency, which has made a possible visit more contentious.
Additional reporting by Reuters and AFP
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