US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan

Speaker of the U.S. House Of Representatives Nancy Pelosi speaks after receiving the Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon, Taiwan’s highest civilian honour, from Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, at the president's office on August 3, in Taipei, Taiwan.

During a historic trip to Taiwan Wednesday, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her visit was intended to make it “unequivocally clear” that the United States would “not abandon” the democratically governed island.

Pelosi left Taiwan on Wednesday, en route to South Korea’s capital Seoul, after becoming the first sitting US House Speaker in 25 years to visit the self-governing island.

Pelosi’s praise of the island’s commitment to democracy was a significant show of support for Taipei, coming just hours after China threatened to retaliate to her presence with a series of military exercises the Taiwanese Defense Ministry likened to a “maritime and aerial blockade.”

Beijing had repeatedly warned of dire consequences should the trip move forward – even going as far as to warn US President Joe Biden that those who played with fire would “perish” by it.

But the warnings from Beijing – and even a suggestion by Biden himself that the US military thought the trip was “not a good idea” – did not dissuade Pelosi, 82, from flying into the island alongside a congressional delegation on Tuesday and meeting with its leading officials.

“We are proud of our enduring friendship,” said Pelosi, speaking alongside Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen at the presidential office in Taipei the morning after her arrival.

Our live coverage of Pelosi’s visit is ending. Read the full story here.

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu waves at U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of the delegation as they board a plane before leaving Taipei Songshan Airport, in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 3.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has departed Taipei’s Songshan airport, concluding a high-stakes visit to Taiwan that drew the ire of China.

Pelosi urged continued US “solidarity” with the self-governing island during her two-day trip, the first time a US House speaker has visited Taiwan in 25 years.

Shortly before taking off on Wednesday afternoon local time, she tweeted that her delegation had “reiterated our ironclad support for Taiwan’s democracy.”

Nancy Pelosi has pledged “ironclad support” for Taiwan, as she prepares to leave the island.

The US House speaker posted images of her meeting with Taiwan’s deputy speaker of the legislature Tsai Chi-chang on her official Twitter account.

“We reiterated our ironclad support for Taiwan’s democracy, including on matters of security & stability, economic growth and governance,” she wrote.

“We also spoke virtually with Legislative Yuan President You Si-kun and wished him a speedy recovery,” she added, following his positive test for Covid-19.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, attends a meeting with Myanmar's Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, right, in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on August 3.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan reflects Washington’s desire to prove its “impunity and display their lawlessness,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday during a news conference with Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

Lavrov connected Pelosi’s visit with the US response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying: “I cannot tell what was their [the Americans’] motivation but there are no doubts that it reflects the very same policy we are talking about with regards to the Ukrainian situation.”

“This is a desire to prove to absolutely everyone [their] impunity and display their lawlessness.”

Lavrov said he did not see any other “reason to create such an irritant literally out of nowhere, fully aware what it means for the People’s Republic of China.”

On Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Russia considered Pelosi’s visit “a clear provocation in the spirit of the United States’ aggressive policy of an all-out effort to contain the PRC [People’s Republic of China].”

The ministry also called on Washington “to refrain from actions that undermine regional stability and international security and to recognize the new geopolitical reality in which there is no longer any place for American hegemony.”

Some context: China’s refusal to condemn Russia’s war on Ukraine has fueled speculation over its intentions with Taiwan, raising questions about how the world might react should it launch an attack.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on China “to join the united world” and oppose Russia, in a virtual address to the Australian National University.

The President discussed China when answering questions from students. He said China’s “neutrality” toward Russia’s invasion “is better” than if China were to announce its outright support for Russia. But he said he believed “the nation, the people of China will do the prudent choice.” He went on to say it is “important that China wouldn’t help Russia.”

Taiwan is negotiating with neighboring Japan and the Philippines to find alternative aviation routes, after China announced live fire drills around the trade-reliant island, its government-controlled news agency reported Wednesday.

China’s military announced late Tuesday that it would launch military exercises around Taiwan in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the self-governed island, along with a series of “targeted military operations to counteract the situation,” according to statements released by its Eastern Theater Command and Ministry of Defense. 

Responding to the move, Taiwan’s defense ministry said the exercises were tantamount to a “maritime and aerial blockade,” which threatened international waters. 

Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau also issued three notices on Wednesday, asking vessels to use alternative routes for seven ports around the island.

In a tweet Wednesday afternoon, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen shared photos of her meeting with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier in the day.

The photos show Tsai and Pelosi waving to reporters and officials in the room, and the moment Tsai bestowed Taiwan’s highest civilian honor upon the Speaker.

Demonstrators take part in a protest against US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit on August 2, in Taipei, Taiwan.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei late Tuesday evening to reporters crowding the airport and hundreds on the streets — including both supporters and protesters.

Supporters clapped and cheered when she arrived, with many saying they saw her visit as a welcome show of support for Taiwan from the United States. But some critics told CNN the trip felt like political posturing that only worsened cross-strait tensions.

The Taipei 101 building lit up with a message reading "TW hearts US" as a welcome sign for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 2.

The Taipei 101, an iconic landmark in the city, lit up with a message welcoming Pelosi as her plane landed. “TW (loves) US,” the message read.

Pelosi returned the sentiment on Wednesday as she met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, reiterating the United States’ commitment to the island in her remarks. “America stands with Taiwan,” she said.

Nancy Pelosi, center left, speaks with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, center right, after arriving at the president's office on August 3, in Taipei, Taiwan.

Pelosi also met with Taiwanese lawmakers and Taiwan’s deputy speaker earlier Wednesday morning in the self-ruled island’s legislature.

Meanwhile, Beijing has lashed out at Pelosi, with the Chinese military announcing it would start exercises around Taiwan in response. Late Tuesday night, after Pelosi’s arrival, the Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister summoned the US Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, to protest the visit.

Police officers and plain clothes security personnel are seen in front of the US Embassy in Beijing, China, on August 3.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a meeting in Bali, Indonesia on July 9.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi lashed out at US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday, calling her visit to Taiwan a “complete farce” and warning that “those who play with fire will perish.”

In a statement earlier Wednesday, China’s Foreign Ministry criticized Pelosi for “brazenly” going ahead with her visit, claiming it “maliciously infringes on China’s sovereignty and blatantly engages in political provocations.”

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office also said in a separate statement Wednesday that Beijing will take “criminal punishment measures” for those who are “die-hard” in support of Taiwanese independence.

Military drills: Ahead of Pelosi’s visit, China had issued a number of furious warnings, vowing to take “resolute and forceful measures” if her trip to the island went ahead.

After the Speaker’s arrival in Taipei on Tuesday, China’s military said it would start exercises around Taiwan and launch a series of “targeted military operations to counteract the situation,” according to statements from China’s Eastern Theater Command and Ministry of Defense.

Farmers load crates of oranges onto a truck at an orchard on April 26, in Zigui County, Yichang City, Hubei Province of China.

China has suspended the import of citrus fruits and some fish products from Taiwan and the export of natural sand to the island, Chinese authorities said Wednesday, amid a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Ma Xiaoguang said Wednesday that the import of grapefruit, lemons, oranges and other citrus fruits, as well as chilled white striped hairtail and frozen horse mackerel from Taiwan to China had been suspended.

Sand export ban: Meanwhile, China’s Ministry of Commerce also announced Wednesday it is immediately suspending its export of natural sand to Taiwan, a key component for the production of semi-conductor chips.

In a statement Wednesday following the announcement, Taiwan’s Bureau of Mines said China suspending its sand exports would have a “limited” effect and that Taiwan’s domestic demand for Chinese sand accounts for “less than 1%” in recent years.

Some context: Amid escalating tensions with Taiwan in recent years, China has previously banned imports of some Taiwanese products. Last year, China banned imports of pineapples from the island followed by some types of apples, citing “pest control.” Earlier this year, it also banned Taiwanese grouper fish, citing detection of some banned drugs and excessive antibiotics.

Beijing’s recent announcements coincide with Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, the first trip to the self-ruled island by a sitting speaker in 25 years, and after Beijing issued stern warnings that it would take countermeasures in retaliation. 

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, center left, and Taiwanese President President Tsai Ing-wen arrive for a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, August 3.

Whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s risky trip to Taiwan was a valuable statement of US resolve or provoked China for no strategic gain depends on when, or if, Beijing’s consequent fury and military posturing abate.

Pelosi visited visited legislators and President Tsai Ing-Wen on the democratic self-governing island on Wednesday, giving her hosts the trappings of a nation-state visit sure to enrage the Chinese.

Her trip has already caused uproar in tense US-China relations, with the communist giant sending jets to the edge of Taiwanese air space and launching military exercises that sent an unsubtle message that Taiwan is surrounded.

However, if these eruptions stop short of a full-scale crisis in the Taiwan Strait, a vital strategic waterway, and avoid the possibility of miscalculations between Chinese and Taiwanese forces, or even Chinese and US assets in the region, the storm over Pelosi’s mission could be temporary. The imagery of the US House speaker bolstering a democracy under China’s giant shadow could become one of the signature moments in US Asia-Pacific foreign policy.

US-China tensions: The geopolitical relationship between Washington and Beijing is the most important nation-to-nation clash on the globe. It is unfolding as a generational tussle between two civilizations keen to imprint their values, economic systems and strategic hegemony on the rest of the world.

While the Biden administration has followed the Trump White House in treating China as an adversary rather than as a competitor, the prime goal of US policy is still to avoid what could be a disastrous future war between the two nations.

So if Pelosi’s visit — a personal rebuke to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has made the takeover of Taiwan an existential quest — permanently worsens already poor US-China relations and brings forward what some see as an inevitable superpower confrontation, it might turn out to be a massive miscalculation.

The same will be true if her trip prompts Beijing to take steps that rock the peace and prosperity enjoyed by the Taiwanese in their dynamic island home, a factor often ignored by China hawks taking tough stands to bolster their political position in the US.

Read the full analysis here.

China’s planned military exercises around Taiwan are tantamount to a “maritime and aerial blockade” and have “violated Taiwan’s territorial waters and its contiguous zone,” the island’s Defense Ministry said in a news briefing on Wednesday.

Defense Ministry spokesperson Maj. Gen. Sun Li-fang said China’s “irrational” planned live-fire drills “threaten international waterway, challenge the international order, undermines cross-strait status quo and endangers regional security.”

The military will strengthen alertness in a “rational way that doesn’t heighten conflict,” he added.

Some context: On Tuesday, China’s military said it would start exercises around Taiwan in response to Pelosi’s visit to the self-governing island and launch a series of “targeted military operations to counteract the situation,” according to statements released by China’s Eastern Theater Command and Ministry of Defense.

Japan has expressed concern to China over its planned live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait, the country’s chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Wednesday.

Matsuno told reporters during a news conference that Tokyo is once again calling for “the peaceful resolution of the cross-straits issue.”

He added that Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is included in the area of sea that China announced as the target location for its military exercises.

Some context: On Tuesday, China’s military announced that it would start exercises around Taiwan in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island.

It will launch a series of “targeted military operations to counteract the situation,” according to statements released by its Eastern Theater Command and Ministry of Defense.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking in the Presidential Office in Taipei. 

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday said China will not “stand in the way” of people visiting Taiwan.

Pelosi said the US congressional delegation’s visit to the self-ruled democratic island was a “show of friendship and support,” but also a source of learning and collaboration, after referencing previous trips made by US legislators. 

Pelosi reiterated the US’ support for Taiwan, again saying they had come to send an “unequivocal message — America stands with Taiwan.”

“We have to show the world, and that is one of the purposes of our trip, to show the world the success of the people of Taiwan,” Pelosi said, pointing to the courage of the Taiwanese people to uphold democracy. 

“We want Taiwan to always have freedom with security, and we’re not backing away from that,” Pelosi said.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Taiwanese leaders and lawmakers on Wednesday, after arriving in the self-governing island late Tuesday night. The high-profile visit, which China has vowed to respond to, is part of a larger Asia tour by a US congressional delegation.

Here’s the latest:

Read more about Pelosi’s visit here.

China is set to stage military drills around Taiwan from Thursday to Sunday to protest Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island.

The Chinese Defense Ministry released a map of six zones around the island where it plans to conduct air and sea exercises as well as long-range live-fire exercises, as part of what a spokesman described as a “blockade.”

Ships and aircraft have been warned to stay out of the areas during the drills.

The ADIZ: The exercise areas announced by Beijing extend well into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone — a buffer of airspace commonly referred to as an ADIZ — and in some cases encroach on the island’s territorial airspace, an area recognized by international law as extending 12 nautical miles (22.2 kilometers) from shore.

Does Taiwan have its own airspace? Taiwan’s disputed status makes this question hard to answer definitively.

While Taiwan is a self-governing democracy, China insists it has sovereignty over the island and is fiercely opposed to any suggestion that it could be considered an independent country — meaning in Beijing’s eyes, Taiwan’s airspace is essentially China’s airspace.

Chinese commercial aviation companies also respected Taiwan’s airspace, Thompson said, recognizing a “convention that effectively treats Taiwan as independent under civil aviation guidelines.”

Most countries in the world do not recognize Taiwan as an independent country — holding diplomatic relations with Beijing rather than Taipei.

Read the full analysis here.

Pakistan reaffirmed its commitment to the “One China” policy on Tuesday, adding that it “firmly supports China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The statement was released as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed with a congressional delegation in Taipei, marking a significant show of support for Taiwan despite China’s threats of retaliation over the visit.

Without mentioning Pelosi or the United States, the Pakistani ministry said the “world cannot afford another crisis that has negative consequences for global peace, security and economy.” It said the world is already facing a “critical security situation” due to the war in Ukraine, which has destabilized food and energy security.

The Chinese Communist Party founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949 — kicking off years of military conflicts across the Taiwan Strait in the 1950s, with Beijing shelling several outlying islands controlled by Taipei on two separate occasions.

The last major crisis took place in 1995-1996, after Taiwan’s President at the time, Lee Teng-hui, visited the United States.

Lee, who had earned a doctoral degree from Cornell University in New York state, returned to his alma mater in 1995 to deliver a speech at a reunion event, which was broadcast throughout Asia and across the world, according to the university.

Cornell University President Frank Rhodes and Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui pose with their wives, Lee Wen-hui and Rosa Rhodes prior to a private dinner at the president's home on June 10,1995 in Ithaca, New York.

Enraged by the visit, and at the US for granting Lee a visa, China fired missiles into waters around Taiwan. The crisis ended only after the US sent two aircraft carrier battle groups to the area in a forceful show of support for Taipei.

Experts say Lee was the first Taiwan leader to float the idea of the island being a separate, distinct entity from the Communist-ruled mainland — making him a particularly sensitive figure for Beijing, even decades later.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen speaks at the presidential office in Taipei on Wednesday.

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen thanked US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for visiting the self-ruled island during their meeting on Wednesday, and said Taipei would do “whatever it takes” to strengthen its self-defense capability.

Tsai said she is committed to “maintaining peace and stability” in the Taiwan Strait, and vowed to make Taiwan a “key stabilizing force” for regional security and the development of global trade. 

She thanked Pelosi for “expressing the US’ consistent policy supporting Taiwan’s self defense” and hailed her as one of the democratic island’s “most devoted friends.”

“Taiwan is a reliable and trustworthy cooperative partner of the United States. We will continue to work with the US Congress, as well as the administration to strengthen cooperation in areas such as Indo-Pacific security, economic development, talent cultivation and supply chains, so as to further elevate Taiwan-US relations,” Tsai added.  

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen gathered with members of their respective delegations for a group photo in the presidential office.

After delivering their remarks, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen gathered with members of their respective delegations for a group photo in the presidential office.

They stood beneath Taiwan’s official flag and a portrait of Sun Yat-sen, often called the founding father of modern China. Large vases of pink orchid flowers were placed on either side.

Pelosi was dressed in a light pantsuit, with a blue top underneath and matching blue shoes and face mask.

Pelosi speaks from the presidential office in Taipei.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wants to make it “unequivocally clear” the United States will not abandon Taiwan, while speaking from the presidential office in Taipei.

“Now more than ever, America’s solidarity with Taiwan is crucial and that is the message we are bringing here today,” Pelosi said. 

“I look forward to displaying this award in the Speaker’s Office, or wearing it there, at the Capitol as a symbol of our treasured friendship,” she said of the civilian honor.