“We are proud of our enduring friendship,” Pelosi said, speaking alongside Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen at the presidential office in Taipei on Wednesday morning local time.
“Now more than ever, America’s solidarity with Taiwan is crucial, and that is the message we bring here today,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi’s speech came shortly after Tsai praised the speaker’s long-standing commitment to democracy and human rights and awarded her Taiwan’s highest civilian honor, the “Order of the Own Clouds with a Special Large Cord.”
“I look forward to displaying this award in the speaker’s office, or taking it there, to the Capitol as a symbol of our cherished friendship,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi’s visit is the first time in 25 years that a US House speaker has visited Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as part of its territory.
Pelosi traveled to Taiwan amid warnings from both the Biden administration and China, which reacted strongly after the House Speaker’s delegation touched down in Taipei on Tuesday.
China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, announced it was conducting military exercises from Thursday to Sunday in response to Pelosi’s visit, including joint air and sea exercises and live-fire drills.
Tsai thanked Pelosi on Wednesday for visiting the self-ruled island and said Taipei would do “whatever it takes” to strengthen its self-defense capability.
“Facing deliberately intensified military threats, Taiwan will not back down,” Tsai told the presidential office in Taipei. “We firmly defend the sovereignty of our nation and will continue to maintain the line of defense of democracy. At the same time, we want to cooperate and work in unity with all democracies in the world to jointly safeguard democratic values.”
Tsai said she is committed to “maintaining peace and stability” in the Taiwan Strait and vowed to make Taiwan a “key stabilizing force” for regional security and the development of global trade.
Earlier Wednesday, Pelosi praised Taiwan as “one of the freest societies in the world” in her first public remarks since becoming the highest-ranking US official to visit the island in 25 years.
Pelosi and the US congressional delegation she leads also met with members of the Taiwanese Parliament and exchanged pleasantries with Taiwan’s Vice President Tsai Chi-chang before a closed-door meeting.
“Now we look forward to our conversation about how we can work together, learning from you and sharing some thoughts on how to protect the planet from the climate crisis, how to accelerate and learn from you, how you address the Covid crisis, how we advance respect for all the people of our countries as we move forward,” Pelosi said. “And again, we come in friendship, we thank you for your leadership, we want the world to recognize that.”
Tsai thanked Pelosi for coming to Taiwan and offering “strong support,” saying the US congressional delegation’s visit represents “the strongest defense and consolidation of the value of democracy and freedom.”
On Tuesday, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said 21 Chinese warplanes made incursions into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
The raids were carried out by 10 J-16 fighter jets, eight J-11 fighter jets, one Y-9 electronic warfare aircraft, one Y-8 electronic intelligence aircraft and one early warning and control aircraft Air KJ-500, Taiwan Defense. The ministry said in a statement on Tuesday night.
The Taiwanese military issued radio warnings and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the activities, he added.
China frequently sends warplanes into Taiwan’s self-declared ADIZ. More raids were recorded on October 4 last year, when 56 military aircraft flew into the area on the same day.
Air defense identification zones are buffer zones set up to provide early warning of incoming aircraft. They are different and go beyond sovereign airspace, which is defined under international law as extending 12 nautical miles from a territory’s coast.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng summoned US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns late in the evening local time to protest the visit, Chinese state media CCTV reported on Wednesday.
However, White House officials said Pelosi’s trip was consistent with U.S. policy toward Taiwan, while warning Beijing against escalating the response.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the speaker’s visit, saying it “fully demonstrates the great importance the US Congress attaches to Taiwan.”
Pelosi, a longtime China hawk, explained in an op-ed published shortly after she landed on Tuesday why she chose to be the first speaker to travel to Taiwan in 25 years, writing that the U.S. they had to maintain a democracy that is now threatened by the Chinese. Communist Party
“We cannot stand by while the (Communist Party) proceeds to threaten Taiwan and democracy itself,” he wrote.