Biden administration officials are warning China not to take escalatory actions amid House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s prospective trip to Taiwan, emphasizing that the potential visit would not mark a shift in American foreign policy.
“There is no reason for Beijing to turn a potential visit, consistent with long standing US policy, into some sort of crisis or conflict, or use it as a pretext to increase aggressive military activity in or around the Taiwan Strait,” National Security Council Strategic Coordinator for Communications John Kirby told reporters on Monday.
Pelosi is expected to visit Taiwan as part of her ongoing tour of Asia, according to a senior Taiwanese government official and a US official. That’s despite warnings from Biden administration officials, who are worried about China’s response to such a high-profile visit. The stop — the first for a US House speaker in 25 years — is not currently on Pelosi’s public itinerary and comes at a time when US-China relations are already at a low point.
Chinese government officials have escalated their rhetoric ahead of Pelosi’s prospective trip.
