Pelosi’s Asian tour starts today; Traveling to Taiwan in uncertainty.
After strong warnings from China about the possible visit of the speaker of the US House of Representatives to Taiwan, informed sources said that Nancy Pelosi’s Asian tour will begin today, but the trip to Taiwan is still under consideration.
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will head an official congressional delegation to Asia on Friday, although it is not yet clear whether the trip will include a stop in Taiwan, CNBC reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
A trip to Taiwan was listed as “indefinite,” said a source who reviewed the itinerary Thursday afternoon. Pelosi’s Asian tour will include visits to US allies in Asia, including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.
Bloomberg news agency first reported that Pelosi’s delegation will begin the trip on Friday, the last day the US House of Representatives is in session before the August recess.
According to CNBC, Rick Larson, a member of the US House of Representatives and chairman of the US-China Bipartisan Working Group, said that Chinese officials had pressured him to stop Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. He said in an interview that an official from the Chinese embassy called his office and asked him to tell Pelosi to cancel her trip.
Despite strong warnings from China, Pelosi has invited top US lawmakers to join her on the trip. Earlier reports that Pelosi may visit Taiwan have prompted strong warnings from China that Beijing would respond “decisively” if she set foot on the island of 24 million people, which China claims to control. gave
“If the US can’t contain him, let China contain and punish him,” Hu Zejin, former editor of China’s state-run Global Times newspaper, tweeted. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force will certainly make his visit an embarrassment to himself and the United States.
One of these informed sources quoted by the American network said that Pelosi has been hosting meetings in her office during the week regarding the Asian trip and the Taiwan controversy. The source said that the discussion of a possible meeting was very sensitive given the possibility of military escalation.
