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| Photo Credit: AP. |
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to visit Taiwan as part of her tour of Asia despite refusing to admit publicly to that effect, a senior Taiwanese government official and a U.S. official told CNN.
The stop,
according to the CNN is not currently on Pelosi’s public itinerary and is the
first in 25 years for a US House Speaker.
The unnamed
Taiwanese official noted that Pelosi would spend the night in Taiwan but details
about her arrival in Taipei are not clear, according to CNN.
The US
official said the defense department officials are working around the clock on
monitoring any Chinese movements in the region and securing a plan to keep her
safe during the visit, CNN reported.
China
considers Taiwan – a self-governing island as part of its territory and has
openly advocated that other countries including the U.S. should respect its “One
China” policy.
"The
question of Taiwan is the most sensitive, important core issue in China-US
relations," said Chinese Ambassador to the US Qin Gang at the Aspen
Security Forum in July, CNN reported.
China's Xi warns Biden not to play with "fire" over Taiwan
On Thursday Chinese
President Xi Jinping warned U.S. President Joe Biden not to play with fire over
growing Taiwan tensions saying “if you play with fire you get burned,”
according to the CNN. The comments came amid tension over plans by House
Speaker Nancy to visit Taiwan.
During the
two-hour long and 17 minute phone all, President Xi did not mince words on the
hotly debated Taiwan question warning the U.S. President that:
"Public
opinion shall not be violated, and if you play with fire you get burned. I hope
the US side can see this clearly," he told Biden, CNN quoted China's state
news agency.
In a
statement the White House said:
"On
Taiwan, President Biden underscored that the United States policy has not
changed and that the United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to
change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan
Strait," a US readout read, according to CNN.
A senior US
administration official described the Taiwan discussion as "direct and
honest" but downplayed Xi's warning, suggesting it was standard for the
Chinese leader to warn about the risks of "playing with fire," CNN
reported.
"This
is the kind of relationship-tending that President Biden believes strongly in
doing, even with nations with which you might have significant
differences," communications coordinator for the National Security Council
John Kirby said this week, according to CNN.
Chinese military says it would take action if Pelosi visits Taiwan
The Chinese
military has warned it would not sit idly by following plans by Speaker Nancy
Pelosi to visit Taipei. The speaker is yet to confirm her visit but the visit
comes at a time of growing tensions between China and the West.
On Tuesday last
week, Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell told Pelosi not to bow to threats
from China over her reported trip to Taiwan. McConnell said Pelosi would hand
China a win if she backs down from her plans to visit the Island, The
Washington Times reports.
The Kentucky
Republican said the U.S. should not bow to Beijing’s saber-rattling.
“If she
doesn’t go now, she’s handling China a sort of a victory of sorts,” Mr.
McConnell told reporters Tuesday, according to The Washington Times.
U.S. Military vows to provide security for Pelosi if she goes ahead with her Taiwan visit
Earlier the
U.S. Military said it would provide security for House Speaker Nancy to ensure
her safety during her alleged visit to Taiwan. Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week that the U.S. military would ensure
the safety of Pelosi if she decides to go ahead with her reported plans to
visit Taiwan in August, Newsweek reported.
Milley told
reporters at a gathering of regional military leaders in Sydney that the
Pentagon had always facilitated the safe travel of members of Congress and would
do the same for the speaker, according to Newsweek.
"If
there's a decision made that Speaker Pelosi or anyone else is going to travel
and they ask for military support, we will do what is necessary to ensure a
safe conduct of their visit," he said.