Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representatives arrived in Taipei, capital of Taiwan..Pelosi’s plane landed safely at 10:45 Tuesday night (local time), with no interference from China. She arrived from Malaysia, with her plane taking a long circuitous route around the Philippines to avoid flying over the Taiwan Strait..It's a historic visit, the first time such a high-ranking US official visited Taiwan since former House Speaker Newt Gingrich visited the island nation 25 years ago..The speaker defied threats from the Communist Chinese, including one to shoot down the US military plane carrying her..Nerves were frayed on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, with President Joe Biden saying July 20 the US military believed a Pelosi trip to Taiwan was “not a good idea now.” .However, members of Congress responded by rallying behind the speaker, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said Pelosi would hand China “a victory of sorts” if she canceled..The Communist Chinese responded to Pelosi’s visit with this statement:.“Pelosi has landed in Taiwan, opening an era of high-intensity competition between China and US over Taiwan Strait. Taiwan is close to Chinese mainland and Beijing has sufficient cards at hand. We will play them one by one confidently. The People’s Liberation Army is announcing a series of action.”.FOX News reports the ‘action’ will include military maneuvers..The Communist Chinese repeatedly made clear it would view a visit by Pelosi as an endorsement of Taiwan’s independence and China’s Foreign Ministry said Monday its military would “not sit idly by” if the speaker went ahead with the trip..“We would like to tell the United States once again that China is standing by, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army will never sit idly by, and China will take resolute responses and strong countermeasures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters..The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and a strike group are currently positioned near Taiwan after they left a port in Singapore Tuesday. A Navy spokesperson confirmed the news, but said it was a planned trip..Pelosi is expected to meet with Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen Wednesday, then leave Taiwan for South Korea..This a developing story and will be updated as events unfold.
