BEIJING (XINHUA) - The Chinese military will not sit back if US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan, a Chinese defence spokesman warned on Tuesday (July 26).

Colonel Tan Kefei, a spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defence, made the remarks in response to a press inquiry regarding the issue.

China demands that the United States honour its promise that it would not support "Taiwan independence", Col Tan said, adding that if the US side insists on making the visit, the Chinese military will take strong actions to thwart any external interference or "Taiwan independence" separatist scheme, and will be resolute in safeguarding China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Chinese side has repeatedly made clear to the United States its firm opposition to Mrs Pelosi's reported visit to Taiwan, Col Tan noted.

"If Speaker Pelosi visits Taiwan, it would seriously violate the one-China principle and the stipulations in the three China-US joint communiques, seriously harm China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and seriously damage the political foundation of China-US relations," Col Tan said.

It will inevitably result in extremely serious damage to the relations between the two countries and the two militaries, and lead to further escalation of the tensions across the Taiwan Strait, the spokesman said.