WATCH: Pelosi lands in Taiwan despite threats from China

US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan late on Tuesday on a trip she said shows an unwavering American commitment to the Chinese-claimed self-ruled island, but China condemned the highest-level US visit in 25 years as a threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Pelosi and the rest of her delegation disembarked from a US Air Force transport jet at Songshan Airport in Taipei after the night-time landing on a flight from Malaysia to begin a visit that risks pushing US-Chinese relations to a new low. They were greeted by Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, and Sandra Oudkirk, the top US representative in Taiwan.

Her arrival prompted a furious response from China at a time when international tensions already are elevated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has never renounced using force to bring it under its control. The US warned China against using the visit as a pretext for military action against Taiwan.

“Our congressional delegation’s visit to Taiwan honours America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant democracy,” Pelosi said in a statement shortly after landing. “America’s solidarity with the 23-million people of Taiwan is more important today than ever, as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy.”

Pelosi, second in the line of succession to the US presidency, is a long-time China critic.

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen will meet Pelosi on Wednesday morning and then have lunch together, the presidential office said. Pelosi, travelling with six other American legislators, became the most-senior US political leader to visit Taiwan since 1997.

China’s foreign ministry said it lodged a strong protest with the US, saying Pelosi’s visit seriously damages peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, “has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-US relations, and seriously infringes upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Chinese fighter jets buzzed the line dividing the Taiwan Strait before her arrival. Several Chinese warships also sailed near the unofficial dividing line since Monday and remained there, a source said.

The Chinese military has been put on high alert and will launch “targeted military operations” in response to Pelosi’s visit, the defence ministry said.

The Chinese military announced joint air and sea drills near Taiwan starting on Tuesday night and test launches of conventional missiles in the sea east of Taiwan, with Chinese state news agency Xinhua describing live-fire drills and other exercises around Taiwan from Thursday to Sunday.

Pelosi is on an Asia tour that includes announced visits to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. Her Taiwan visit was unannounced but widely anticipated.

In a Washington Post opinion piece released after landing, Pelosi explained her visit, praising Taiwan’s commitment to democratic government while criticising China as having dramatically increased tensions with Taiwan in recent years.

“We cannot stand by as the CCP proceeds to threaten Taiwan — and democracy itself,” Pelosi said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.

Pelosi also cited China’s “brutal crackdown” on political dissent in Hong Kong and its treatment of Muslim Uyghurs and other minorities, which the US has deemed genocide.

As Pelosi’s motorcade approached her hotel, escorted by police cars with flashing red and blue lights, scores of supporters cheered and ran towards the black vehicles with their arms outstretched and phone cameras on. The motorcade drove straight into the hotel’s parking lot.

On Tuesday night, Taiwan’s tallest building, Taipei 101, lit up with messages including: “Welcome to Taiwan”, “Speaker Pelosi” and “Taiwan (heart) USA”.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said after Pelosi’s arrival that the US “is not going to be intimidated” by China’s threats or bellicose rhetoric. Kirby said the visit is not a violation of sovereignty or America's long-standing “one-China policy”.

“There’s no reason for this visit to become a spurring event for a crisis or conflict,” Kirby said.

Pelosi, 82, is a close ally of US President Joe Biden, both being members of the Democratic Party, and has helped guide his legislative agenda through Congress.

Four sources said Pelosi was also scheduled on Wednesday to meet activists outspoken about China's human rights record.

China views visits by US officials to Taiwan as sending an encouraging signal to the pro-independence camp on the island. Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide the island's future.

The US has no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is bound by American law to provide it with the means to defend itself.

Wall Street’s major indices fell in choppy trading on the rising US-China tensions.

The Chinese aircraft conducted tactical moves of briefly “touching” the median line and circling back to the other side of the strait while Taiwanese aircraft were on standby nearby, the source said. Neither side's aircraft normally cross the median line.

War footing

Taiwan’s defence ministry said 21 Chinese aircraft entered its air defence identification zone on Tuesday, and that China was attempting to threaten key ports and cities with drills around the island. Taiwan’s armed forces have “reinforced” their alertness level, it added.

Taylor Fravel, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology expert on China’s military, said China's planned exercises appear as though they may be greater in scope than during a Taiwan Strait crisis in 1995 and 1996.

“Taiwan will face military exercises and missile tests from its north, south, east and west. This is unprecedented,” Fravel said.

Four US warships, including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, were positioned in waters east of Taiwan on what the US Navy called routine deployments.

Russia, locked in confrontation with the West over its Ukraine invasion, condemned Pelosi's visit.

“The USA is a state provocateur,” said Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson. “Russia confirms the principle of ‘one China’ and opposes the independence of the island in any form.”

Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned Biden in a phone call last Thursday that Washington should abide by the one-China principle. Biden told Xi that US policy on Taiwan has not changed and Washington strongly opposes unilateral efforts to alter the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Update: August 2 2022
This story has been updated with new information throughout.

Reuters