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TAIPEI, Taiwan, Aug 3 (AP) \u2014 U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taiwan after a visit that heightened tensions with China, saying Wednesday that she and other members of Congress in her delegation showed they will not abandon their commitment to the self-governing island.<\/p>\n
Pelosi, the first U.S. speaker to visit the island in more than 25 years, courted Beijing\u2019s wrath with the visit and set off more than a week of debate over whether it was a good idea after news of it leaked. In Taipei she remained calm but defiant.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy,\u201d she said in a short speech during a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. \u201cAmerica\u2019s determination to preserve democracy, here in Taiwan and around the world, remains ironclad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pelosi arrived at a military base in South Korea on Wednesday evening ahead of meetings with political leaders in Seoul, after which she will visit Japan. Both countries are U.S. alliance partners, together hosting about 80,000 American personnel as a bulwark against North Korea\u2019s nuclear ambitions and China\u2019s increased assertiveness in the South China and East China seas.<\/p>\n
China, which claims Taiwan as its territory and opposes any engagement by Taiwanese officials with foreign governments, announced multiple military exercises around the island, parts of which will enter Taiwanese waters, and issued a series of harsh statements after the delegation touched down Tuesday night in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei.<\/p>\n
Taiwan decried the planned actions, saying they violated the island\u2019s sovereignty.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuch an act equals to sealing off Taiwan by air and sea, such an act covers our country\u2019s territory and territorial waters, and severely violates our country\u2019s territorial sovereignty,\u201d Capt. Jian-chang Yu said at a briefing by the National Defense Ministry.<\/p>\n
The Chinese military exercises, including live fire, are to start Thursday and be the largest aimed at Taiwan since 1995, when China fired missiles in a large-scale exercise to show its displeasure at a visit by then-Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui to the U.S.<\/p>\n
Taiwanese President Tsai responded firmly Wednesday to Beijing\u2019s military intimidation.<\/p>\n
\u201cFacing deliberately heightened military threats, Taiwan will not back down,\u201d Tsai said at her meeting with Pelosi. \u201cWe will firmly uphold our nation\u2019s sovereignty and continue to hold the line of defense for democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Washington, John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council, said Wednesday that the United States was anticipating more military drills and other actions from China in coming days as the country\u2019s armed forces \u201cflex their muscles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, \u201cwe don\u2019t believe we\u2019re at the brink now, and there\u2019s certainly no reason for anybody to be talking about being at the brink going forward,\u201d Kirby said on ABC\u2019s \u201cGood Morning America.\u201d<\/p>\n
China\u2019s official Xinhua News Agency announced the military actions Tuesday night, along with a map outlining six different areas around Taiwan. Arthur Zhin-Sheng Wang, a defense studies expert at Taiwan\u2019s Central Police University, said three of the areas infringe on Taiwanese waters, meaning they are within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of shore.<\/p>\n
Using live fire in a country\u2019s territorial airspace or waters is risky, said Wang, adding that \u201caccording to international rules of engagement, this can possibly be seen as an act of war.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pelosi\u2019s trip has heightened U.S.-China tensions more than visits by other members of Congress because of her high-level position as leader of the House of Representatives. She is the first speaker of the House to visit Taiwan in 25 years, since Newt Gingrich in 1997. However, other members of Congress have visited Taiwan in the past year.<\/p>\n
Tsai, thanking Pelosi for her decades of support for Taiwan, presented the speaker with a civilian honor, the Order of the Propitious Clouds.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s response has been loud and has come on multiple fronts: diplomatic, economic and military.<\/p>\n
Shortly after Pelosi landed Tuesday night, China announced live-fire drills that reportedly started that night, as well as the four-day exercises starting Thursday.<\/p>\n
The People\u2019s Liberation Army Air Force also flew a contingent of 21 war planes Tuesday night, including fighter jets, toward Taiwan. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng also summoned the U.S. ambassador in Beijing, Nicholas Burns, to convey the country\u2019s protests the same night.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, China also banned some imports from Taiwan, including citrus fruit and fish.<\/p>\n
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV published images of PLA drills on Wednesday, although it was unclear where they were being conducted. On Wednesday night, China flew an additional 27 fighter jets toward Taiwan.<\/p>\n
CCTV also said that a Taiwanese citizen was detained on suspicion of inciting separatism. Yang Chih-yuan, originally from the city of Taichung, was shown surrounded by police in a CCTV video. Yang had been a candidate for a legislative position in New Taipei City, according to local media.<\/p>\n
Pelosi addressed Beijing\u2019s threats Wednesday morning, saying she hopes it\u2019s clear that while China has prevented Taiwan from attending certain international meetings, \u201cthat they understand they will not stand in the way of people coming to Taiwan as a show of friendship and of support.\u201d<\/p>\n
She noted that support for Taiwan is bipartisan in Congress and praised the island\u2019s democracy. She stopped short of saying that the U.S would defend Taiwan militarily, emphasizing that Congress is \u201ccommitted to the security of Taiwan, in order to have Taiwan be able to most effectively defend themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her focus has always been the same, she said, going back to her 1991 visit to Beijing\u2019s Tiananmen Square, when she and other lawmakers unfurled a small banner supporting democracy two years after a bloody military crackdown on protesters at the square. That visit was also about human rights and what she called dangerous technology transfers to \u201crogue countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pelosi visited a human rights museum in Taipei that details the history of the island\u2019s martial law era and met with some of Taiwan\u2019s most prominent rights activists, including an exiled former Hong Kong bookseller who was detained by Chinese authorities, Lam Wing-kee.<\/p>\n
Pelosi, who is leading the trip with five other members of Congress, also met with representatives from Taiwan\u2019s legislature.<\/p>\n
\u201cMadam Speaker\u2019s visit to Taiwan with the delegation, without fear, is the strongest defense of upholding human rights and consolidation of the values of democracy and freedom,\u201d Tsai Chi-chang, vice president of Taiwan\u2019s legislature, said in welcome.<\/p>\n
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has sought to tone down the volume on the visit, insisting there\u2019s no change in America\u2019s longstanding \u201cone-China policy,\u201d which recognizes Beijing but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.<\/p>\n
Pelosi said her delegation has \u201cheft,\u201d including Gregory Meeks, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Raja Krishnamoorthi from the House Intelligence Committee. Reps. Andy Kim and Mark Takano are also in the delegation.<\/p>\n
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