LIVE: US Speaker Nancy Pelosi says America will not abandon Taiwan amid raising tension with China - becomes highest-ranking American official to visit self-ruled island
LIVE: US Speaker Nancy Pelosi says America will not abandon Taiwan amid raising tension with China - becomes highest-ranking American official to visit self-ruled island
LIVE: Nancy Pelosi Taiwan Visit: US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday met Taiwan`s President Tsai Ing-wen. She told Tsai Ing-wen that the United States will not abandon the island nation. This is the first visit by a top American official to Taiwan in more than two decades. "Now more than ever, America`s solidarity with Taiwan is crucial", Pelosi told Tsai, adding that America`s determination to preserve democracy in Taiwan and the rest of the world remains iron-clad. Pelosi on Tuesday arrived here amid escalating tensions with China, which claims the self-ruled island as its own territory. Pelosi is on an Asian tour this week.
Here are all the LIVE Updates, latest news:-
Latest Updates
Taiwan President's Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday thanked visiting U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her concrete actions to support Taiwan at this critical moment and said the island will not back down in the face of heightened military threats. The pair met in Taipei on Wednesday as part of Pelosi`s visit to the island which has drawn fierce criticism from China, and has prompted Beijing to announce a raft of military exercises and summon the U.S. ambassador.
Taiwan`s cabinet on Wednesday said the military has increased its alertness level and authorities will make plans to ensure safety and stability around the island, after China announced a series of military exercises in response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi`s arrival in Taipei. Taiwan`s cabinet also said its citizens should feel reassured and that a national stabilisation fund for the stock market will closely watch the situation and react in a timely manner.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Taiwan`s President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday that her visit to the island makes it unequivocally clear that the United States will not abandon Taiwan.
China had warned of resolute and strong measures if Pelosi went ahead with the trip.
Pelosi's visit has triggered increased tensions between China and the United States. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, to be annexed by force if necessary, and views visits by foreign government officials as recognition of the island's sovereignty.
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday night, becoming the highest-ranking American official to visit the self-ruled island that is claimed by China in 25 years.
Website of Taiwan''s presidential office receives overseas cyber attack - source
The website of Taiwan's presidential office received an overseas cyber attack on Tuesday and was at one point malfunctioning, a source briefed on the matter said.
The website was shortly brought back online, the source told Reuters. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi was expected to arrive in Taipei later on Tuesday, people briefed on the matter said, as frictions rose across the sensitive Taiwan Strait.
On Thursday, Pelosi is to meet with South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin Pyo in Seoul for talks on security in the Indo-Pacific region, economic cooperation and the climate crisis, according to Kim's office.
China has been steadily ratcheting up diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan. China cut off all contact with Taiwan's government in 2016 after President Tsai Ing-wen refused to endorse its claim that the island and mainland together make up a single Chinese nation, with the Communist regime in Beijing being the sole legitimate government.
The Philippines urged the U.S. And China to be ?responsible actors" in the region. It is important for the U.S. And China to ensure continuing communication to avoid any miscalculation and further escalation of tensions," said Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong ?highlighted the importance of stable U.S.-China relations for regional peace and security during talks with Pelosi, the city-state's Foreign Ministry said. This was echoed by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in Tokyo, who said stable ties between the two rival powers are extremely important for the international community as well.
Pelosi kicked off her Asian tour in Singapore on Monday as her possible visit to Taiwan sparked jitters in the region.
Beijing sees official American contact with Taiwan as encouragement to make the island's decades-old de facto independence permanent, a step U.S. Leaders say they don't support. Pelosi, head of one of three branches of the U.S. Government, would be the highest-ranking elected American official to visit Taiwan since then-Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 after the Communists won a civil war on the mainland. The U.S. Maintains informal relations and defense ties with Taiwan even as it recognizes Beijing as the government of China.
The carrier has an array of aircraft, including F/A-18 fighter jets and helicopters, on board as well as sophisticated radar systems and other weapons.
The Reagan, the cruiser USS Antietam and the destroyer USS Higgins left Singapore after a port visit and moved north to their homeport in Japan.
U.S. Officials have said the U.S. Military would increase its movement of forces and assets in the Indo-Pacific region if Pelosi visits Taiwan. U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group were in the Philippine Sea on Monday, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.
If the speaker does decide to visit, and China tries to create some kind of a crisis or otherwise escalate tensions, that would be entirely on Beijing, he told reporters at U.N. Headquarters in New York. We are looking for them, in the event she decides to visit, to act responsibly and not to engage in any escalation going forward.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also urged China to act responsibly if Pelosi proceeds with the visit.
Put simply, there is no reason for Beijing to turn a potential visit consistent with long-standing U.S. Policy into some sort of crisis or use it as a pretext to increase aggressive military activity in or around the Taiwan Strait, Kirby said.
Kirby said administration officials are concerned that Beijing could use the visit as an excuse to take provocative retaliatory steps, including military action such as firing missiles in the Taiwan Strait or around Taiwan, or flying sorties into the island's airspace and carrying out large-scale naval exercises in the strait.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby underscored that the decision on whether to visit Taiwan was ultimately Pelosi's. He noted that members of Congress have routinely visited the island over the years.
The White House on Monday decried Beijing's rhetoric, saying the U.S. Has no interest in deepening tensions with China and will not take the bait or engage in saber rattling.
China's military threats have driven concerns of a new crisis in the Taiwan Strait, which separates the two sides, that could roil global markets and supply chains.
Hua said China has been in constant communication with the U.S. And made clear how dangerous it would be if the visit actually happens. Any countermeasures China take will be justified and necessary in the face of Washington's unscrupulous behavior," she said.
The U.S. And Taiwan have colluded to make provocations first, and China has only been compelled to act out of self-defense, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters Tuesday in Beijing.
China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province to be annexed by force if necessary, has repeatedly warned of retaliation if Pelosi visits, saying its military will never sit idly by.
Taiwan's Foreign Ministry declined to comment. Premier Su Tseng-chang didn't explicitly confirm Pelosi's visit, but said Tuesday that ?any foreign guests and friendly lawmakers are very much welcome.
It was unclear where she was headed from Malaysia, but local media in Taiwan reported that she would arrive on Tuesday night, becoming the highest-ranking elected U.S. Official to visit in more than 25 years. The United Daily News, Liberty Times and China Times - Taiwan's three largest national newspapers - cited unidentified sources as saying she would spend the night in Taiwan.
Pelosi is on an Asian tour this week that is being closely watched to see if she will defy China's warnings against visiting Taiwan.
The plane carrying Pelosi and her delegation left from a Malaysian air force base after a brief stopover that included a lunch meeting with Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, an official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release details to the media.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Malaysia on Tuesday and was expected to visit Taiwan, escalating tensions with Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as its own territory.
Get Latest Business News, Stock Market Updates and Videos; Check your tax outgo through Income Tax Calculator and save money through our Personal Finance coverage. Check Business Breaking News Live on Zee Business Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe on YouTube.