Media: Pelosi to Visit Taiwan Despite Warnings from Beijing

According to Taiwanese media, the Speaker of the House of Representatives is to arrive on the self-governing island Tuesday evening A U.S. congressional delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to arrive in Taiwan Tuesday evening, despite warnings from China which has threatened to respond to the visit with military measures. According to Taiwanese media reports, Pelosi will arrive around 10:30 p.m. local time. She is expected to meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and other top lawmakers on Wednesday. For weeks, the media have speculated whether Pelosi, a vocal critic of China, would make a stop in Taiwan. China considers the self-governing island its territory and has warned that such a visit would be an unacceptable violation of its sovereignty. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian warned Monday that the country’s armed forces would not “sit idly by” but would take “decisive countermeasures to maintain China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”. Reuters, citing an unnamed source, reported that several Chinese warplanes and warships approached the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday night. Голос Америки