'Facing Heightened Military Threats, Won't Back Down': Taiwan President Amid China's Furious Reaction To Pelosi Visit
The Taiwan President also thanked US Speaker Nancy Pelosi for "taking concrete actions to show your staunch support for Taiwan at this critical moment".
New Delhi: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen welcomed US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to the country on Wednesday morning amid China's furious reaction gearing up for major military exercises around the island in retaliation for the visit. Keeping a defiant tone, Tsai said reacted to Pelosi's Visit and China's actions and said that though it is facing 'deliberately heightened military threats, Taiwan will not back down.'
According to an AFP report, Tsai said, "Facing deliberately heightened military threats, Taiwan will not back down. We will... continue to hold the line of defence for democracy."
She also thanked Pelosi for "taking concrete actions to show your staunch support for Taiwan at this critical moment". Tsai said, "US Speaker Pelosi is truly one of Taiwan's most devoted friends. We are grateful to you to make this visit to Taiwan to showcase the US Congress' staunch support for Taiwan."
She added, "Taiwan is committed to maintaining peace & stability in the Taiwan Strait, and we will make Taiwan a key stabilising force for regional security ensuring a free & open Indo-Pacific."
Proud of US' friendship with Taiwan: Nancy Pelosi
Speaking at the occasion, US Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that there's struggle between democracy & autocracy in the world and as China uses its soft power in order to gain support, we've to talk about Taiwan in terms of its technological advancement & show people Taiwan's courage to become more democratic.
She further said, " demonstration of democracy offers a strong contrast to what's happening in mainland China. No more evidence is needed on what happened in Hong Kong, one country two systems didn't happen. We don't want anything to happen to Taiwan by force"
Pelosi, second in line to the presidency, is the highest-profile elected US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
"Today, our delegation... came to Taiwan to make unequivocally clear we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan and we are proud of our enduring friendship," the speaker said at the event with Tsai.
China's reaction to Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit
Meanwhile, as soon as Pelosi landed in Taiwan, the Chinese foreign ministry summoned US Ambassador Nicholas Burns.
Pelosi's visit "is extremely egregious in nature and the consequences are extremely serious", China's Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng told Burns, according to state news agency Xinhua.
The Chinese military said it was on "high alert" and would "launch a series of targeted military actions in response" to the visit.
China on Wednesday also announced to halt the exports of Natural sand to the island, CGTN News reported, citing the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
Beijing maintained that Pelosi's visit is a serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques. It said the visit gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and sends a seriously wrong signal to the "separatist forces for Taiwan independence".
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