Chinese authorities will take effective power measures if Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday.

“If Pelosi visits Taiwan, this will be a gross interference in China’s domestic policy <…> and will lead to very serious consequences,” he stressed at a briefing. “The Chinese People’s Liberation Army won’t sit back and do nothing,” he added.

According to the diplomat, Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan would destabilize the situation in the Taiwan Strait and deal a blow to China-US relations. “China will definitely take resolute and effective countermeasures,” he specified.

Earlier, media outlets reported that Pelosi, the third highest official in the US state hierarchy, was planning to visit Taiwan in August. This was reported by The Financial Times and Politico. According to the reports, she planned to do so earlier in April, but allegedly did not go due to COVID-19. This trip would have become the first visit of a Speaker of the US House of Representatives to Taiwan in the last 25 years.

On Sunday, a delegation led by Pelosi left for Asia in order to visit Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. The politician refused to specify whether she intended to visit Taipei during her Asia-Pacific tour.

Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949 when the remaining Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled to the island after suffering a defeat in China’s civil war. Since then, Taiwan has preserved the flag and some other symbols of the Republic of China that had existed in mainland China before the Communists came to power. Beijing regards the island as one of its provinces and this position is supported by most countries, including Russia.

Source: Agencies