Pelosi departs Taiwan as a furious China holds military drills

TAIPEI, Taiwan — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi departed Taiwan on Wednesday after a whirlwind visit that drew fury from Beijing and raised ... IE11isnotsupported.Foranoptimalexperiencevisitoursiteonanotherbrowser.SKIPTOCONTENTNBCNewsLogoPoliticsPlanYourVoteU.S.NewsWorldCovidBusinessOpinionOctoberPrimeDayShare&Save —SearchSearchFacebookTwitterEmailSMSPrintWhatsappRedditPocketFlipboardPinterestLinkedinMyNewsManageProfileEmailPreferencesSignOutPelosisays‘AmericastandswithTaiwan’duringcontroversialtrip02:25LinkcopiedAug.3,2022,10:02AMUTC / Updated Aug.3,2022,10:51AMUTCByRhodaKwanandJenniferJettTAIPEI,Taiwan—HouseSpeaker NancyPelosidepartedTaiwan onWednesdayafterawhirlwindvisitthatdrewfuryfromBeijingandraisedfearsofapotentialmilitarycrisisbetweentheUnitedStatesandChina. Beforeboardingaplanetoleavetheisland,shevowedsolidaritywiththeself-rulingdemocracythatBeijingclaimsasitsterritory,whileChinalaunchedmilitarydrills,summonedtheU.S.ambassadorandhaltedsomeimportsfromTaiwaninadisplayofangryprotestsagainsthervisit.“Ourdelegationcameheretosendanunequivocalmessage:AmericastandswithTaiwan,”PelosisaidatanewsconferenceinTaipeiaftermeetingwithTaiwanesePresidentTsaiIng-wen. TheU.S.AirForceplanecarryingherandfiveotherDemocraticlawmakerstookofffromTaipeiSongshanAirportjustafter6a.m.ET.ChinarespondstoPelosi'sTaiwanvisitwithmilitarydrillsAug.3,202200:57BeijinghadwarnedagainstthePelosivisitforweeks,issuingthreatsthatraisedfearsofanewcrisisintheregionbetweentheworld’stwobiggesteconomies.AssoonasshetoucheddownTuesday,Chineseofficialsunleashedabarrageoffuriousstatementsandannouncedplansformilitaryexercisesstartingimmediately.OnWednesday,aChineseForeignMinistryspokespersoncriticizedPelosi’svisitasa“politicalfarce.”“ItisPelosiwhoisgrandstanding,butitisbilateralrelationsandregionalpeaceandstabilitythatwillsuffer,”HuaChunyingsaid.SomeoftheadditionalmilitarydrillsplannedforlaterthisweekwilltakeplacewithinTaiwan’sseaandairterritory,amovetheislanddemocracydenouncedasaseriousviolationthatamountedtolandandnavalblockades.BothPelosiandTsaisaidtheywerecommittedtomaintainingthestatusquo,underwhichtheUnitedStatesrecognizesBeijingasthesolelegitimategovernmentofChinabutmaintainsunofficialrelationswithTaiwan.“WewantTaiwantoalwayshavefreedomwithsecurity,andwe’renotbackingawayfromthat,”Pelosisaid.TsaithankedtheU.S.delegationforvisiting“undersuchchallengingcircumstances,”callingtheChinesemilitaryexercises“unnecessary.” ChinaviewsPelosi’svisitashighlyprovocativebecauseofherstatusasahigh-rankingofficial.WhileU.S.lawmakersandothercurrentandformergovernmentofficialsregularlyvisitTaiwan,PelosiisthefirstHousespeakertovisittheislandsinceNewtGingrichin1997.TaiwaneseForeignMinisterJosephWuspeakswithNancyPelosiasshepreparestoleaveTaipeionWednesday.APPelosisaidthatwhileChinahasblockedTaiwanfromparticipatingininternationalorganizationsandmeetings,“theywillnotstandinthewayofpeoplecomingtoTaiwan.”CheerseruptedoutsidetheairportasPelosi’smilitaryplanearrivedTuesday.LightsonTaipei101,Taiwan’stallestbuilding,displayedmessagesofwelcomeandgratitudeforthespeaker’svisit.MoresupportersmetPelosioutsideherhotel,alongwithpro-Beijingprotestersholdingbannersdemandingthatsheleave.“ThegoodthingisthatIthinkthiswilllettheworldknowmoreabouttheexistenceofTaiwanasademocraticcountry,”XuHao-jun,a45-year-oldsoftwaredesignerinTaipei,toldNBCNewsonWednesday.“Thebadpoint?IthinkChinawillnotbefriendly,butthatdoesn’tmeanjustbecausePelosidoesn’tcometoTaiwantheywillbelessso.”PelosibeganthedayWednesdaybyaddressingtheTaiwaneseParliament,praisingtheislandas“oneofthefreestsocietiesintheworld.”Ataceremonylater,TsaipresentedPelosiwithacivilianorderofthehighestrank,callingher“oneofTaiwan’smostdevotedfriends.”Intheafternoon,Pelosi—alongtimecriticofChina’srulingCommunistPartyanditshumanrightsrecord—metwiththreeChinesedissidentsinprivate,localmediareported.ThedelegationthenboardedaplaneforSouthKorea,thefourthstoponalargertourofAsiathatalsoincludesSingapore,MalaysiaandJapan.BeijingconsidersTaiwanpartofitsterritoryandviews“reunification”asinevitable,byforceifnecessary.TheTaiwanesegovernmentrejectsBeijing’ssovereigntyclaimandsaystheisland’sfutureshouldbedecidedbyits23millionpeople.InastatementWednesday,ChineseForeignMinisterWangYiaccusedtheUnitedStatesofprovokingthecontroversyandencouragingadvocatesofTaiwanindependence.“AttemptstousetheTaiwanquestiontocontainChinaaredoomedtofailure,”hesaid.TheWhiteHousesaysPelosi’svisitisconsistentwithlong-standingU.S.policyonTaiwan,whichitsayshasnotchanged,andthatthereisnoreasonforittostirconflict.TheUnitedStates“willnotseekanddoesnotwantacrisis.WearepreparedtomanagewhatBeijingchoosestodo,”NationalSecurityCouncilspokesmanJohnKirbytoldreportersTuesday.AU.S.governmentplanecarryingNancyPelositakingofffromTaipeiSongshanAirportonWednesday.AnnabelleChih/GettyImagesThereactionfromChinawasswift.TheChineseForeignMinistrysummonedNicholasBurns,theU.S.ambassadortoChina,lateTuesdaytolodgeaprotest,statemediareported.Aroundthesametime,theChineseMinistryofNationalDefensesaidthePeople’sLiberationArmyhadbegun“targetedmilitaryoperations”aroundTaiwan,includingjointairandseaexercisesandconventionalmissiletests. TheTaiwaneseDefenseMinistrysaidatotalof21Chinesemilitaryaircraftentereditsself-declaredairdefenseidentificationzone,whichisoutsideitsofficialairspace,onTuesday.Suchmilitarysortiestakeplacealmostdailybutusuallyinsmallernumbers.Ontheeconomicfront,ChinesecustomsofficialssaidtheywouldsuspendimportsofseveralTaiwanesefoodproducts,whiletheMinistryofCommercehaltedtheexportofnaturalsandtotheisland,whichusesittomakecomputerchips.TaiwanesegovernmentwebsitesalsoexperiencedminorcyberattacksasPelosiarrivedTuesday,thesourceofwhichwasunclear.ThePLAsaidadditionalmilitaryexercisesandtrainingactivities,includinglive-firedrills,wouldbeheldfromThursdaytoSunday.StatemediareleasedamapindicatingsixareasoffTaiwan’scoast,includingonelessthan15milesfromthesouthernportcityofKaohsiung,andwarnedforeignshipsandaircrafttostayaway.InastatementWednesday,theTaiwaneseForeignMinistrysaidthiswouldseriouslyimpactinternationaltradeandlaw.ItsaidTaiwanwasinclosecommunicationandcoordinationwiththeU.S.andotherlike-mindedcountriesintheregionto“jointlydefendtherules-basedinternationalorder”and“avoidregionalescalation.” RhodaKwanreportedfromTaipei,andJenniferJettreportedfromHongKong.RhodaKwanRhodaKwanisaTaipei-basedjournalist.JenniferJettJenniferJettistheAsiadigitaleditorforNBCNews,basedinHongKong.EricBaculinaoandWenjianZhangcontributed.