The leader of the American deputies Nancy Pelosi
“has the right to visit Taiwan”
, indicated Monday the White House, which warns that Beijing, irritated, “seems to position itself” for military maneuvers around the island which it claims.
Tensions between the United States and China have recently escalated over Nancy Pelosi's potential visit, which has not been confirmed but is being announced in the coming days by US media.
The speaker of the House of Representatives
"has the right to visit Taiwan"
, estimated with journalists John Kirby, the spokesman of the White House for strategic issues.
He insisted that there was
"no reason for Beijing to make this visit, which does not derogate from long-standing American doctrine, a form of crisis"
.
He also warned that China
"(appears) to be positioning itself to potentially take a step further in the coming days"
, which could
"include military provocations such as firing missiles in the Taiwan Strait or around Taiwan".
, or
"significant air incursions"
into the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone.
"Nothing has changed"
Some of these measures could conform to China's
"worrying tendency"
to maneuver around the island, but others
"could be on a different scale"
, estimated John Kirby, who specified that the last Chinese missile launches in the Taiwan Strait date back to the 1990s. Nancy Pelosi, second in the protocol order for the succession of the American president after the vice-president, began a series of visits to Asia on Monday through Singapore.
Several Taiwanese and foreign media indicated Monday that this visit would take place, citing anonymous sources.
According to the Financial Times, Nancy Pelosi is expected to meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei on Wednesday.
The Speaker of the House
"will decide for herself whether or not to visit Taiwan
," said Antony Blinken from the United Nations in New York, noting that the US Congress has the power independent, in the same way as the executive.
"This decision is his."
According to John Kirby, the United States
"will not be intimidated"
and will continue its actions in the Asia-Pacific region regardless.
He added, however, that Washington's position on Taiwan had not changed.
The United States practices with regard to Taiwan a so-called
"strategic ambiguity"
diplomacy , consisting in recognizing only one Chinese government, that of Beijing, while continuing to provide decisive support, in particular military, to Taipei. .
“Nothing has changed, nothing has changed
,” said John Kirby.
“We oppose any change to the status quo on either side.
(...) We have declared that we do not support the independence of Taiwan”
, he recalled from the White House.
John Kirby also clarified that Nancy Pelosi was traveling in a military plane and that Washington was taking care of her safety.