The administration of US President Joe Biden fears that a possible visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan could lead to China imposing a no-fly zone over Taiwan.
⠀
Earlier, Biden, citing the position of the Pentagon, said that Pelosi’s planned trip to Taiwan does not seem like a good idea at the moment, and Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that Beijing will take effective measures if the speaker of the House of Representatives visits Taiwan. In addition, the channel’s source said that Beijing may also send warplanes to the island’s air defense identification zone, which it has done repeatedly over the past few months. At the same time, the source noted that such an action by the PRC could cause retaliatory measures from both Taiwan and the United States.
⠀
Pelosi planned to visit Taiwan in the coming weeks. Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative in the US, Sabina Chang, told CNN that Taiwan “did not receive any information regarding the planned visit.”
⠀
Initially, the trip of the US delegation led by Pelosi to Taiwan was supposed to take place in April. It was reported that the visit, which will inevitably provoke protests from Beijing, could be the first visit to the island since 1997 by the speaker of the US House of Representatives.
⠀
Later, a spokesman for the speaker’s administration, Drew Hammill, said that Pelosi had tested positive for the coronavirus, and the visit was postponed indefinitely. The Chinese Foreign Ministry then wished her recovery and urged Washington not to postpone, but to cancel the visit to the island, which Beijing considers its own.
