Wednesday 3 August 2022 09:39 AM China warns of 'criminal punishment measures' following Nancy Pelosi's 'brazen' ... trends now
China has reacted with fury to US Speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial trip to Taiwan that has inflamed tensions between the two superpowers.
China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, branded the trip a 'complete farce' and repeated the much-used phrase by Chinese diplomacy that 'those who play with fire will perish by it.'
Last week Chinese premier Xi Jinping had used the same expression in a phone call to US President Joe Biden.
Early on Wednesday, the Chinese foreign ministry slammed Pelosi for 'brazenly' going ahead with the trip that was still unconfirmed as late as Monday, claiming it 'maliciously infringes on China's sovereignty and blatantly engages in political provocations.'
'It proves once again that some US politicians have become 'troublemakers' of China-US relations,' the statement said.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office weighed in, threatening 'criminal punishment measures' targeted at 'die hard' Taiwanese supporters of independence.
And late Tuesday night, after Pelosi's arrival, the Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister summoned the US Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, to protest the visit.
Pelosi's visit represents the first visit of a high-ranking elected member of the US government in 25 years and has infuriated Beijing as they view it as violating the one-China policy that the US has committed to following.
China has reacted with fury to US Speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial trip to Taiwan that has inflamed tensions between the two superpowers (pictured: Chinese Premier Xi Jinping)
China's foreign minister, Wang Yi (pictured), branded the trip a 'complete farce' and repeated the much-used phrase by Chinese diplomacy that 'those who play with fire will perish by it'
Pelosi's visit represents the first visit of a high-ranking elected member of the US government in 25 years and has infuriated Beijing as they view it as violating the one-China policy that the US has committed to following
Nancy Pelosi is pictured with Taiwanese President President Tsai Ing-wen during a meeting in Taipei on Wednesday
Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Air Force plane - with its distinctive blue and white colors and American flag on the tail - touched down in Taipei at 10.45pm local time
Taipei upset Beijing by lighting up it's Taipei 101 building with a welcome message to Nancy Pelosi
The message read: 'Speaker Pelosi welcome to TW, Thank you TW heart US'
Under the policy, the US defers to Beijing and does not recognize Taiwan as an independent state, although it provides plenty of unofficial diplomatic and military support in a compromise that has kept the peace for decades.
The Chinese Defense Ministry claimed that Pelosi's presence in Taipei 'the wrong move' that has 'maliciously provoked and created the crisis' and 'seriously violated the one-China principle'
They said that the Chinese People's Liberation Army is on 'high alert', promising 'targeted military operations' to safeguard 'China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.'
As part of those operations, China sent 21 military planes into Taiwan's air defense zone last night, Taipei claimed.
Beijing boasted that it had also dispatched its elite J-20 stealth fighter jets toward the tiny island nation.
Beijing's fighter planes had earlier sent a warning as they buzzed the Taiwan Strait, the 100 mile-wide strip of water that separates the two nations, in the immediate aftermath of House of Representative speaker Nancy Pelosi's arrival in Taipei.
Chinese media confirmed its J-20 stealth jets had taken to the skies around the island, and two of Beijing's warships – a destroyer and a frigate
