Pelosi says US will not allow China to isolate Taiwan

M^me Pelosi, 82, who was in Japan – the last leg of her Asia tour – visited Taiwan on Tuesday and Wednesday for the first time since 2015, angering China.

Beijing considers the autonomous region of 23 million people an integral part of its territory, and on Thursday began an unprecedented scale of military exercises around the island, notably firing ballistic missiles, some of which may have landed in the area. Japan’s Exclusive Economy. .

“The Chinese carried out these scenes, probably using our arrival as a pretext,” said Mr.^me Pelosi at a press conference Friday in Tokyo.

They “tried to isolate Taiwan,” he added, recalling Beijing’s rejection in the spring of a U.S. invitation to allow Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Organization’s annual meeting. (WHO).

But he added, “They won’t isolate Taiwan by blocking them from going there. We had high-level visits from senators in the spring on a bilateral basis. […] We will not allow them to isolate Taiwan,” he said. “They don’t decide where we go. »

The regional tour “is not intended to change the status quo in Asia, nor is it intended to change the status quo in Taiwan,” Mr.^me Pelosi.

Since 1979, Washington has recognized only one Chinese government, that of Beijing.

The visit, he said, “was worrying Taiwan Relationship Law “, a law passed by the US Congress in 1979 and which characterizes relations between the United States and Taiwan, but also “US/China policy, all legal texts and treaties that have established what our relations are”.

“It’s about celebrating Taiwan, a great democracy with a thriving economy and respect for all its people.”

Regarding China-US relations, he said, “If the United States does not talk about human rights in China because of (our) business interests, we will lose all moral authority to talk about human rights anywhere in the world.”