Tuesday (Aug. 2), when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed on the island for a visit that has heightened tensions between the superpowers, China denounced US activities in Taiwan as “very hazardous.”
According to a statement from Beijing’s foreign ministry, the US has been seeking to limit China by using Taiwan.
“It intensifies formal interactions with Taiwan, hollows out the concept of “One China,” and encourages separatist actions under the banner of “Taiwan independence.” These actions carry a great deal of risk, much like playing with fire. Whoever plays with fire will burn to death by it.”
The statement called Taiwan an “inalienable part of China’s territory”.
China said that the United States “should stop its acts of saying one thing but doing the opposite on the Taiwan question”.
Pelosi’s visit is the highest-profile visit by a US official to the island in 25 years. She flew in on a US military aircraft into Taipei’s Songshan Airport and was greeted by Taiwan’s foreign minister Joseph Wu.
She said the US delegation’s visit to Taiwan “honours America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant democracy”.
China’s foreign ministry said Pelosi’s visit is a “serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiqués”.
“It has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-US relations, and seriously infringes upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it added.
“It gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for ‘Taiwan independence’. China firmly opposes and sternly condemns this, and has made serious démarche and strong protest to the United States.”
Pelosi said her visit to Taiwan was completely in line with longstanding US policy on Taiwan.
The visit is part of a broader trip to the Indo-Pacific region including Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, she said in a statement shortly after landing.
“Our discussions with Taiwan leadership will focus on reaffirming our support for our partner and on promoting our shared interests, including advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
“America’s solidarity with the 23 million people of Taiwan is more important today than ever, as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy,” she said.
