TAIPEI (AFP, REUTERS) - The United States wants Taiwan to always have freedom with security and will not back away from that, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday (Aug 3), during a visit to Taipei fiercely criticised by China.
While respecting the “One China” policy, US' solidarity with Taiwan is more important than ever, Mrs Pelosi said, during a joint news conference with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.
The US supports the status quo and does not want anything to happen to Taiwan by force, Mrs Pelosi added.
Asked about the economic consequences Taiwan has to face as a result of her visit, Mrs Pelosi said the recently passed Chips and Science Act opens the door for better economic exchanges between the US and Taiwan.
On Wednesday evening, Mrs Pelosi was preparing to depart the island, with her US military plane expected to leave around 6pm local time, the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry said.
She is headed for Seoul in South Korea, where she is due on Thursday to meet with South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo for talks on security in the Indo-Pacific region, economic cooperation and the climate crisis, the Korea Herald reported.
Mrs Pelosi is also due to visit Japan.
Earlier in the day, Ms Tsai said that Taiwan is committed to maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, adding that China’s military exercises, launched in response to Mrs Pelosi’s visit, are an unnecessary reaction.
Earlier, Ms Tsai thanked Mrs Pelosi for her concrete actions to support Taiwan at this critical moment and said the island will not back down in the face of heightened military threats.
The pair met in Taipei on Wednesday as part of Mrs Pelosi’s visit to the island which has drawn fierce criticism from China, and has prompted Beijing to announce a raft of military exercises and summon the US ambassador.
Ms Tsai also told Mrs Pelosi on Wednesday that she is one of Taiwan’s most devoted friends and thanked her for her unwavering support on the international stage.
Ms Tsai added that Taiwan is a reliable partner of the US and will continue to work with the country to strengthen collaboration in security, economic development and supply chains.
Mrs Pelosi said that her visit to the island makes it unequivocally clear that the US will not abandon Taiwan.
Now more than ever, America’s solidarity with Taiwan is crucial, she told Ms Tsai, adding that US determination to preserve democracy in Taiwan and the rest of the world remains iron-clad.
Mrs Pelosi said that her delegation had come to Taiwan in "peace for the region".
"We come in friendship to Taiwan, we come in peace to the region," she said during a meeting with Mr Tsai Chi-chang, the deputy speaker of Taiwan's parliament.
Mrs Pelosi thanked Ms Tsai for her leadership, and called for increased inter-parliamentary cooperation.
“We commend Taiwan for being one of the freest societies in the world,” Mrs Pelosi told Taiwan’s parliament earlier on Wednesday.
The US wants Taiwan to always have freedom with security and will not back away from that, she said.
Mrs Pelosi told the parliament that the US Chips Bill would offer a good opportunity for US-Taiwan cooperation in the chip industry.
Asked about the economic consequences that Taiwan has to face as a result of her visit, Mrs Pelosi said the new Bill opens the door for better economic exchanges.
She will meet with Mr Mark Liu, chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
Mrs Pelosi and Mr Liu will discuss implementation of the Chips Bill, which provides US$52 billion (S$72 billion) of US federal subsidies for domestic chip factories.
While Mrs Pelosi is not the first House Speaker to go to Taiwan - Mr Newt Gingrich visited in 1997 – her visit comes as relations between Beijing and Washington have deteriorated sharply, and with China a much more powerful economic, military and geopolitical force than it was a quarter century ago.
China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has never renounced using force to bring it under its control. The US has warned China against using the visit as a pretext for military action against Taiwan.
Early on Wednesday, China’s customs department announced a suspension of imports of citrus fruits, chilled white striped hairtail and frozen horse mackerel from Taiwan, while its commerce ministry suspended the export of natural sand to Taiwan.
A long-time China critic, especially on human rights, Mrs Pelosi was set to meet later on Wednesday with a former Tiananmen activist, a Hong Kong bookseller who had been detained by China and a Taiwanese activist recently released by China, people familiar with the matter said.
