The United States "will not abandon its commitment to Taiwan".
This was assured by the speaker of the US House Nancy Pelosi in her brief introductory speech given at the meeting in Taipei with President Tsai Ing-wen, after receiving an honor for the efforts made in collaboration between Washington and Taipei.
Tsai said he considered Pelosi to be "a true friend" of Taiwan, noting that the island "is a reliable partner of the US" and that "no military threat could set us back".
The visit of the speaker, a veteran Democrat and champion of rights, now traveling to Seoul, sparked the ire of Beijing, which responded by sending its jets into the Strait, announcing military maneuvers to besiege the rebel island and summoning the American ambassador .
The Chinese media have announced the sending of Su-35 fighters of the Chinese People's Liberation Army into the Taiwan Strait (hypothesis denied by the Taipei Defense which denounced the incursion of 21 aircraft) in the imminent landing, while immediately after a barrage of press releases, he condemned the arrival of Pelosi, at all levels. The Foreign Ministry issued a "firm condemnation" and spoke of "serious political provocation".
Pelosi's is the first visit to Taipei by a speaker of the House since 1997, after that of Newt Gingrich: unofficially the White House and the Pentagon have made no secret of their opposition to the Taipei stage, which has matured while US-China relations are at the lows of the last few decades . In late July, answering an ad hoc question, Biden reported that "the military thinks it's not a good idea right now." For weeks, the president's officials tried to discourage the speaker's plans until they gave up and tried to limit the damage, tying the mission to Pelosi's will alone.
(Unioneonline / D)