As United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi embarked on an Asian tour Sunday, her official itinerary made no mention of a stop in Taiwan as previously reported.
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leading a Congressional delegation to the Indo-Pacific region, including visits to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan,” her office said in a press release.
The release, however, did not specify whether Pelosi might make other stops. It had previously been widely reported by foreign media outlets that Pelosi was planning a stop in Taiwan.
After departing from the continental United States, Pelosi made a brief fuel stop in Hawaii, where her delegation visited the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the Pearl Harbor Memorial, and the USS Arizona Memorial before heading to Asia, her office said.
Other members in Pelosi’s all-Democrats delegation include lawmakers Gregory Meeks, Mark Takano, Suzan DelBene, Raja Krishnamoorthi, and Andy Kim, it added.
China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has already threatened to take “resolute and strong measures” should Pelosi visit Taiwan, with some scholars warning that such a visit could spark a direct military confrontation between Washington and Beijing.
Asked to comment on the fact that Taiwan is not on the official itinerary of Pelosi’s Asian tour, Ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy spokesperson Tsuei Ching-lin (???) reiterated the ministry’s stance to CNA that it had not received any information about a planned visit to Taiwan by Pelosi, who sits second in the presidential line of succession.
Taiwan’s government, however, always welcomes the visit of American lawmakers to the country, he added.
Should the rumored trip be confirmed, Pelosi will be the first sitting U.S. House speaker to visit Taiwan since 1997, when her predecessor, Newt Gingrich of the Republican party, traveled to Taipei and met with then-President Lee Teng-hui (???) during another period in tense cross-strait relations.
The 82-year-old Democratic heavyweight was previously reported to be planning a visit to Taiwan in early April, as part of a wider trip to Asia, but had to put off the plan after testing positive for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, according to Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pelosi’s delegation will visit the city-state on Monday and Tuesday during which its members will call on President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (???).
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel