China summoned the US ambassador to Beijing on Tuesday to blame him for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “shocking” trip to Taiwan, Chinese state media reported.
Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Feng expressed “strong protest” over Ms Pelosi’s visit to the island, which Beijing considers part of its territory, during her meeting with Ambassador Nicholas Burns.
“This step is extremely shocking and the consequences will be extremely serious,” said Xie, quoted by the official Chinese news agency Xinhua. “China will not remain without reaction. »
The trip by Ms Pelosi, the most prominent US elected official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, has heightened tension between the world’s two largest economies, with Beijing seeing it as a major provocation.
Mr. Xie warned that the United States “will pay the price for its own mistakes” and urged Washington to “immediately correct its mistakes, take practical measures to reverse the negative effects caused by Ms. Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan”. , reported Xinhua.
Ms Pelosi landed in Taiwan on Tuesday evening, despite a series of warnings from Beijing.
China’s military said it was on “high alert” and would “launch a series of targeted military actions in response” to the visit.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said more than 21 Chinese military aircraft entered the island’s Air Defense Identification Zone on Tuesday, an area larger than the island’s territorial airspace and which intersects with part of China’s air defense zone.
There has been no official comment from Washington so far.