US still pursues ‘one-China’ policy: US Speaker Pelosi
New Delhi: The US supports the ‘one-China’ policy, the visit to Taiwan was not an attempt to change it, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with the media on Tuesday.
Pelosi stressed that all she wanted was to show China that the United States supported Taiwan. According to her, the American delegation didn’t go to Taiwan to change the ‘one-China’ policy, to which the US was still committed. Pelosi said she had gone there to recognize the status quo.
She added that nothing was destabilizing about the trip.
Tensions over Taiwan
Pelosi visited Taiwan from August 2 to 3. The trip drew sharp criticism from mainland China. Beijing has repeatedly warned Washington that it would retaliate if the visit by Pelosi, the third most important post in the US government hierarchy, took place.
China’s armed forces began large-scale military drills with missile firing in six areas of Taiwan’s waters on August 4. These drills were supposed to end at noon on August 7, but, according to the Chinese Defense Ministry, they have been extended indefinitely.
In addition, on August 5, Beijing announced the temporary suspension of eight cooperation mechanisms with the United States because Pelosi visited Taipei. These include the cancellation of meetings between military officials, the termination of the direct communication line between regional military commands, the suspension of cooperation under the maritime security mechanism, as well as the suspension of the fight against climate change and illicit drug trafficking.
Taiwan has been governed by its administration since 1949 when the remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled there after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Since then it retains the flag and some other attributes of the former Republic of China, which existed on the mainland before the Communists came to power. According to China’s official position, supported by most countries, including Russia, the island is one of the Chinese provinces.
(Vinayak)
