The president of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, confirmed on Sunday that this week she will visit four Asian countries but without mentioning Taiwan, an issue that had caused friction with China.
In a statement, Pelosi said she will lead a legislative delegation to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan to discuss trade, fighting the pandemic, climate change, regional security and “democratic governance.”
Pelosi has not confirmed reports that she will visit Taiwan. Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a telephone conversation Thursday with US President Joe Biden, warned that the United States should not mediate in Taiwan.
China sees any US contact with Taiwan as encouragement for the de facto autonomous island to become permanently independent. Pelosi, as head of one of the three branches of the US government, would be the highest-ranking official to visit Taiwan since Newt Gingrich, also the speaker of the house, did it in 1997.
“Under the strong leadership of President Biden, the United States is strongly committed to strategic engagement with the region, with the understanding that a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific region is critical to the security of our region and the entire world,” the statement says.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 when the communists in mainland China won the civil war. Both sides say they are one country but disagree on which is the legitimate government. They have no official relations but are intertwined by billions of dollars in trade and investment.
