NB BUREAU
After a week of heightened tension between the United States and China over US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s potential trip to Taiwan, it appears Taiwan is off from her itinerary and she kicks off her Asia Tour on Sunday.
Earlier reports said that Pelosi will visit also visit Taiwan, the island nation, which Beijing views as part of its territory.
In a pair of tweets before she flew out, Pelosi mentions visit to countries like Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, but no mention of visit to Taiwan.
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leading a Congressional delegation to the Indo-Pacific region, including visits to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. The trip will focus on mutual security, economic partnership and democratic governance in the Indo-Pacific region,” read a statement issued by her office Sunday.
This comes three days after US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had a phone conversation, during which the latter warned against “playing with fire” over Taiwan.
“Those who play with fire will perish by it,” China’s foreign ministry had quoted the Chinese president as saying. “It is hoped that the US will be clear-eyed about this.”
(With media reports)
