Calling US House speaker\u2019s trip as \u2018vicious\u2019 whose \u2018consequence is very grave,\u2019 Beijing says it \u2018won\u2019t sit idle\u2019
\n Beijing
\nChina\u2019s Foreign Ministry, early on Wednesday local time (Tuesday night GMT), lodged a protest with US Ambassador Nicholas Burns over the unannounced visit by Pelosi to Taiwan which Beijing calls its \u201cbreakaway province.\u201d
\n\u201cThe nature of Pelosi\u2019s visit is extremely vicious and the consequence is very grave,\u201d China\u2019s Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng told Burns.
\n\u201cThe US must pay the price for its own mistake. China will take necessary and resolute countermeasures and we mean what we say,\u201d the Chinese diplomat told the US ambassador.
\nCalling Pelosi\u2019s trip an \u201cunscrupulous move,\u201d Xie told Burns that the US should have \u201cprevented her (Pelosi) from going against the historical trend but instead indulged her and colluded with her which exacerbates the tension in the Taiwan Straits and seriously damages China-US ties.\u201d
\n\u201cThe Chinese side will not sit idly by,\u201d Xie told Burns, saying the visit is \u201ca serious provocation and violation of one-China principle,\u201d Chinese daily Global Times reported.
\nDespite a string of warnings, including military action, Pelosi flew to Taiwan from Malaysia on Tuesday.
\nPelosi was received by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu as she landed at the Taipei Songshan Airport at around 10.44 p.m. local time (1444GMT). Two hotels have been booked to host the accompanying delegation of US lawmakers and officials.
\nThis came as Beijing ratcheted up its messages urging the senior US lawmaker to abandon her trip, which was not on the official agenda of Pelosi\u2019s four-nation Asia tour.
\nPelosi, the first speaker of the US House of Representatives to visit Taiwan in 25 years, will meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and also engage with Taiwanese lawmakers.
\nIn 1997, Republican Newt Gingrich was the last House speaker to visit the self-ruled island, which has insisted on its independence since 1949.
\nSoon after Pelosi landed in Taiwan, the Chinese military announced to hold military drills around the self-ruled island, home to over 24 million people.
\nThe Taiwanese Defense Ministry said around 21 Chinese military aircraft entered its air defense identification zone \u2013 a buffer zone outside a country\u2019s airspace, where it has the right to ask incoming aircraft to identify themselves.
\nChinese state media released videos showing that the People\u2019s Liberation Army commenced joint military exercises \u201csurrounding the island of Taiwan.\u201d
\nThe drills featured J-20 stealth fighter jets and test firing of conventional missiles that analysts said could fly over the island.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Calling US House speaker\u2019s trip as \u2018vicious\u2019 whose \u2018consequence is very grave,\u2019 Beijing says it \u2018won\u2019t sit idle\u2019 Beijing China\u2019s Foreign Ministry, early on Wednesday local time (Tuesday night GMT), lodged a protest with US Ambassador Nicholas Burns over the unannounced visit by Pelosi to Taiwan which Beijing calls its \u201cbreakaway province.\u201d \u201cThe nature of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-275481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n