China condemns Pelosi visit as tour continues
China condemns Pelosi visit, calling it “manic, irresponsible and irrational.”
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi defended China’s military drills at seas around Taiwan, held in response to the visit.
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a brief but controversial visit to the island on Wednesday, as she toured the region.
But China was livid at the move and in response launched its biggest ever military exercises in the region. Pelosi is the most senior US politician to visit the island in 25 years.
China is enraged that Pelosi stopped off in Taiwan – a place Beijing considers to be a breakaway province of China.
The United States does not officially recognise Taiwan, but maintains a strong relationship with the island, including selling them weapons so they can defend themselves. Wang’s comments came during a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh.
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He said his country had done all it could to avoid a crisis but that it could “not allow its core interests to be hurt.”
An earlier statement from the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) called for maximum restraint and urged against any provocative action.
It said that recent developments could lead to “miscalculation, serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers”.
Since stopping off on the island, Pelosi has since visited South Korea as part of an official four-country tour that includes Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.
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