(Singapore) Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi was expected in Singapore on Monday, the first sequence of an Asian tour that could include a stopover in Taiwan at the risk of further aggravating already strained relations between Beijing and Washington.
Updated yesterday at 11:56 p.m.
After having long maintained the vagueness around its program in Asia, Mme Pelosi announced on Sunday leading “a congressional delegation to the Indo-Pacific region to reaffirm America’s unwavering commitment to its allies and friends in the region.”
“In Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, we will hold high-level meetings to discuss how we can promote our common values and interests, including peace and security, economic growth and development. trade, the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, human rights and democratic governance,” she added, without mentioning Taiwan in her itinerary.
For weeks, tensions between the United States and China have been rising over reports that it may visit the self-governing island, which China considers part of its territory.
Beijing would see a passage, even brief, of the speaker of the House of Representatives on the island as a provocation. Delegations of US officials travel frequently to Taiwan to express support, but a visit by Mme Pelosi, one of the highest figures in the state and one of the heavyweights of American political life, would be unprecedented since that of his predecessor Newt Gingrich in 1997.
tricky sequence
The United States practices a so-called “strategic ambiguity” diplomacy with regard to Taiwan, consisting in recognizing only one Chinese government, that of Beijing, while continuing to provide decisive support to Taipei, but in s refraining from saying whether or not they would defend the island militarily in the event of an invasion. It is this concept that has so far made it possible to maintain a certain stability in the region.
Regarding Mme Pelosi, the sequence is delicate: the speaker of the House of Representatives is a central figure in President Joe Biden’s Democratic majority, but her possible stopover in Taiwan would singularly complicate the task of American diplomacy, which is trying hard not to poison relations with China.
Last week, during a rare direct exchange with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, US President Joe Biden assured that the United States’ position on Taiwan had “not changed” and that his country “s ‘strongly opposed unilateral efforts to alter the status quo or threaten peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait’.
For his part, Xi Jinping had called on Joe Biden not to “play with fire”, and a spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy had spoken of a trip by Mme Pelosi on the island as a “red line”.
Nancy Pelosi’s visit comes as military tension mounts in the region.
Taiwan’s military conducted its largest annual military exercises this week, which included mock interceptions of Chinese attacks from the sea.
Meanwhile, the US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its flotilla left Singapore for the South China Sea as part of a scheduled operation, the US Navy said.
And on Saturday, in response, China held a “live ammunition” military exercise in the Taiwan Strait.
Washington has sought to downplay a possible visit by Mme Pelosi in Taiwan and called on Chinese leaders for calm.
“We have many differences when it comes to Taiwan, but over the past 40 years we have managed those differences and done so in a way that has preserved peace and stability,” the Secretary of State said on Friday. State Antony Blinken.
In Taiwan, opinions are divided on the prospect of a visit by Mme Pelosi, but ruling party and opposition figures said the island should not cave to Chinese pressure.