US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in Taiwan on Wednesday that she had come “in peace to the region” as her visit sparked anger in Beijing, which announced a series of military exercises in the surrounding area. of the island.

“We come as friends to Taiwan, we come in peace to the region,” Nancy Pelosi, the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, said during a meeting with Taiwanese parliament deputy speaker Tsai Chichange.

US Ambassador to Beijing Summoned

Nancy Pelosi, 82, arrived in Taipei on Tuesday night on a US military plane. Her visit, which had not been officially announced but had been the subject of intense speculation for several days, immediately provoked a reaction from Beijing. Upon her arrival, the Chinese Foreign Ministry denounced “a serious violation” of US commitments to China, which “seriously undermines regional peace and stability.”

And the Chinese government summoned the US ambassador to Beijing, Nicholas Burns, on Tuesday night. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng expressed his country’s “firm protests” to him, adding that “(Nancy Pelosi’s) initiative to visit Taiwan is extremely shocking and the consequences will be very serious,” the New China agency reported.

Meanwhile, China’s Defense Ministry has promised “targeted military action,” with a series of military exercises around the island set to begin on Wednesday, including “the firing of long-range live ammunition” into the Taiwan Strait, which separates mainland China island.

Taiwanese authorities reported overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday that 21 Chinese military planes entered the island’s air defense identification zone, an area much larger than its airspace. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it was “determined” to protect the island against any attack.

Several US ships in the area.

Several US ships also sail in the region, including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, according to US military sources. Most observers rate the likelihood of armed conflict as low. But US officials said they were preparing for shows of force by the Chinese military.

China considers Taiwan, with its 23 million inhabitants, to be one of its provinces, which has not yet managed to unite the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war (1949). Opposed to any initiative that gives international legitimacy to the Taiwanese authorities, Beijing opposes any official contact between Taiwan and other countries. US officials visit the island regularly. But China judges a visit by Nancy Pelosi, the third person in the US state, to be a major provocation.

Last week, in a telephone interview with his American counterpart Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping had already called on the United States not to “play with fire”.

Russian and North Korean support for Beijing

The previous Speaker of the United States House of Representatives to visit Taiwan was Newt Gingrich, in 1997. Since 1979, Washington has recognized only one Chinese government, that of Beijing, while continuing to support the Taiwanese authorities, particularly the through major arms sales

The United States also practices “strategic ambiguity”: it refrains from saying whether or not it would defend Taiwan militarily in the event of an invasion. Russia, a major China ally, on Tuesday accused the Americans of “destabilizing the world” and described Nancy Pelosi’s visit as “sheer provocation.”

“The Chinese side has the right to take necessary measures to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity regarding the Taiwan issue,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Another Beijing ally, North Korea, expressed its “full support.” “The brazen interference of the United States in the internal affairs of other countries and its deliberate political and military provocations are undoubtedly the root cause of the deterioration of peace and security in the region,” said a spokesman for the Korean Foreign Ministry. from North. quoted by the official agency KCNA.