Taiwan’s official Central News Agency reported that the island’s military forces beefed up their preparations on Tuesday morning and said they would remain in an “enhanced” state of readiness until midday Thursday.
Pelosi is expected to arrive in Taiwan Tuesday night local time, according to a person familiar with the arrangements for the visit. Taiwan media reported that Pelosi is expected to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and lawmakers on Wednesday.
Pelosi’s impending visit has infuriated China, which for years has sought to isolate Taiwan diplomatically and sees such exchanges with foreign dignitaries as support for the island’s formal independence. The ruling Communist Party claims Taiwan as its territory, although it has never ruled it. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has vowed to “reunify” Taiwan with China by force if necessary.
Chinese naval authorities announced, on Tuesday, additional military exercises in the South China Sea and live-fire exercises in the Bohai Sea, near the Korean Peninsula, this week. Reuters, citing an unnamed source, reported that Chinese combat aircraft flew on Tuesday near the middle line of the Taiwan Strait, the unofficial military border. Meanwhile, China’s Xiamen Airlines announced that 30 flights were disrupted on Tuesday as a result of air traffic controls in China’s Fujian province across the strait directly from Taiwan.
Earlier, the White House warned that China could fire missiles into the Taiwan Strait or near Taiwan or send military aircraft across the center line.
The situation is a test for Xi, who faces a balancing act of responding aggressively but in a way that does not lead to all-out conflict as he prepares for a crucial leadership meeting in the fall.
The design should appear. “It should support China’s red lines and prevent further drift toward an unacceptable outcome: US support for Taiwan independence,” said Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund.
Pelosi began her trip to Asia on Sunday and did not include Taiwan in the official itinerary. Beijing has repeatedly warned that it will respond to what it sees as interference in an internal matter.
“The Chinese side is fully prepared for any eventuality, and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army will not stand idly by,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference on Monday. He said, “He who plays with fire will perish with it.”
China’s Ambassador to the United Nations Zhang Jun, speaking at a press conference on Monday, called the visit “dangerous and provocative.”
Joanne O, a spokeswoman for Taiwan’s foreign ministry, said at a press briefing on Tuesday that the ministry had no information on Pelosi’s visit but that the House speaker would be welcome.
“Our government always welcomes international friends who visit Taiwan, enhance their understanding of Taiwan, and show their support,” she said.
Regardless of rising tensions over Pelosi’s expected visit, residents say Taiwan has benefited from the attention.
“Taiwan will be the big winner. When will Taiwan become a major focus of US politics and the midterm elections?” said Fan Shih-ping, a professor at the Graduate Institute of Political Science at National Taiwan Normal University. “The Taiwan issue has become completely international, and this is the last thing China and Xi Jinping want to see.”
Pelosi has long been a vocal critic of China’s human rights record and has spoken of her support for Hong Kong protesters protesting Beijing’s crackdown on the city. Reuters reported that Pelosi will meet with a group of human lefts activists in Taiwan.
said Lam Wing Kee, a former Hong Kong bookseller who was arrested in China and is now living in Taipei.
Lam said he had been invited to Wednesday’s event with the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US embassy, but had not been told if Pelosi would attend. “This will be a show of support for the resistance of the Hong Kong people,” he said of the spokesperson’s looming visit.
Vic Chiang and Bi Lin Wu in Taipei contributed to this report.
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