China sanctions House Speaker Pelosi after visit to Taiwan
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying gestures during a daily briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Beijing, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. After weeks of threatening rhetoric, China showed the spirit but stopped short of any direct military confrontation with the U.S. over the visit to Taiwan of a senior American politician, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
China’s communist government sanctioned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) following her trip to Taiwan. The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed the decision on Friday, while claiming Pelosi’s visit was provocative. Chinese officials accused her of meddling in China’s internal affairs.
In addition to targeting the House Speaker, China decided to halt cooperation with the US on several pressing issues, including transnational crime.
This announcement comes as Biden administration officials said Pelosi’s trip was peaceful and claimed China’s military drills in response to the Speakers visit are extreme and unjustified. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken touched on the topic.
“The United States has conveyed to the PCR consistently and repeatedly that we do not seek and will not provoke a crisis,” said Blinken. “(Taiwan) President Tsai said the same thing. China has chosen to overreact and use Speaker Pelosi’s visit as pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait.”
I led a Congressional delegation to Taiwan to make crystal clear that America stands with the people of Taiwan – and all those committed to Democracy and human rights.
Check out this video of our historic visit to Taipei. pic.twitter.com/TON6zB3x4s
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) August 3, 2022
While speaking Friday during her ongoing trip, Pelosi asserted that the US will not allow China to isolate Taiwan or prevent other US lawmakers from visiting.