US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has arrived in Taiwan for a visit. Your plane landed in the capital Taipei on Tuesday evening (local time). The top politician ignored warnings from China, which sees the democratic island as part of the People’s Republic.
Shortly before the visit, Chinese warplanes flew over the Taiwan Strait, according to Chinese state television. It was therefore a SU-35 machine, as the broadcaster CCTV reported on Tuesday. How many there were and what their destination was not disclosed. The brief announcement came shortly before the expected landing of the US House of Representatives in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei.
Pelosi’s visit to the island’s democratic republic had already increased tensions around Taiwan. China regards Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic, has threatened countermeasures and also held out the prospect of military action. China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping warned US President Joe Biden in a telephone call on Thursday before the visit: “Those who play with fire will perish.” From the Chinese leadership’s point of view, Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic, although it is was governed independently even before it was founded in 1949. The island, which has a population of 23 million, has long considered itself independent. Referring to its “One China Doctrine,” Beijing firmly rejects official contacts from other countries to Taipei.
More to come
