The stop, the first for a US House speaker in 25 years, is not currently on Pelosi’s public itinerary and comes at a time when US-China relations are already at a low point
The Taiwanese official added that he is expected to stay in Taiwan overnight. It’s unclear exactly when Pelosi will land in Taipei.
The US official added that Defense Department officials are working around the clock to monitor Chinese movements in the region and ensure a plan to keep it safe. The issue of Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as part of its territory, remains one of the most controversial. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping discussed it at length in a two-hour, 17-minute phone call Thursday as tensions rose between Washington and Beijing.
“The Taiwan issue is the most sensitive and important core issue in China-US relations,” Chinese Ambassador to the US Qin Gang told the Aspen Security Forum in July.
Biden said last month that the US military opposed Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, although he has since declined to elaborate on the warnings. The White House has said it depends on the spokeswoman of the House she is traveling to and that they have little say in her decision.
Still, administration officials have worked in recent weeks to explain the risks of a visit to Taiwan in meetings with Pelosi and her team. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently said he had discussed a visit to Asia with Pelosi.
The administration is very careful about Pelosi’s safety when she travels abroad because she is in the line of presidential succession.
Administration officials are concerned that Pelosi’s trip comes at a particularly tense time, as Xi is expected to seek an unprecedented third term at the upcoming Chinese Communist Party congress. Chinese party officials are expected to begin laying the groundwork for that conference in the coming weeks, pressuring the leadership in Beijing to show strength.
Officials also believe that the Chinese leadership does not fully understand the political dynamics in the United States, leading to a misunderstanding of the significance of Pelosi’s possible visit. Officials say China may be mistaking Pelosi’s visit for an official administration visit since she and Biden are both Democrats. Administration officials are concerned that China won’t separate Pelosi from Biden much, if at all.
Pelosi has long been a critic of the Chinese Communist Party. He has met with pro-democracy dissidents and the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader who remains a thorn in the side of the Chinese government. In 1991, Pelosi unfurled a black-and-white banner in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to commemorate the victims of the 1989 massacre, which read, “To those who died for democracy.” In recent years, he supported pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
The Chinese embassy in the United States has objected to his expected trip, which was planned for April before Pelosi tested positive for Covid-19, and has urged members of Congress to tell the speaker that don’t do it
“I would say there’s been a full press from the Chinese embassy to discourage a trip to Taiwan,” Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Washington, co-chairman of the congressional US-China task force, told CNN. “I don’t think it’s their business to tell us what we should do. That was my message.”
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in the US, responded that his office is in “regular contact” with members of Congress, including Larsen.
“On the Taiwan issue, we have made our position strong and clear,” Pengyu said. “The embassy is making every effort to prevent peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the stability of China-US relations from being damaged by the president’s possible visit of the House, Nancy Pelosi, in Taiwan.”
“We hope that serious consequences can be avoided,” he added. “This is in the common interest of both China and the US.”
Many Democrats and Republicans in Congress said it was Pelosi’s right to travel to Taiwan.
“It’s Speaker Pelosi’s sole decision whether or not to travel to Taiwan, not to any other country,” said Rep. Darin LaHood, Republican of Illinois, Larsen’s Republican counterpart on the US-China task force. “In our democratic system, we operate with separate but equal branches of government.”
“It is inappropriate for foreign governments, including the Chinese government, to attempt to influence the ability or right to travel for the Speaker, members of Congress, or other US government officials to Taiwan or anywhere else in the world. “, added.
Other members appeared to be more cautious about the diplomatically sensitive trip.
California Democratic Rep. Judy Chu, the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, said she has “always supported Taiwan.”
But when asked if a trip to Taiwan now would send the wrong message, Chu said: “You could look at it two ways. One is that relations are very strained right now. But on the other hand, you could say which may be when Taiwan. We also need to show strength and support.”
Asked what he thought, he said: “I’ll leave that to those who will make that decision.”
This story was updated Monday with additional details.
CNN’s Nectar Gan contributed to this report.