TOKYO : US House of RepresentativesHouse of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised Taiwan, pledged US solidarity and said her trip through Asia, which led to unprecedented military drills by China, was never about changing the regional status quo.
Pelosi and a congressional delegation were in Japan on the last stage of a Asian trip that included a brief and unannounced stop in Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing considers its own - and caused an infuriated Beijing to hold live-fire drills in Taiwan, with five missiles landing in Japan's exclusive economic zone EEZ Her stop in Taiwan, the highest-level visit by a US official in 25 years, and the possibility that Beijing could take military action against Taiwan.
She told a news conference after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that our representation here is not about changing the status quo in Taiwan or the region.
She said that the Chinese government is not pleased that our friendship with Taiwan is strong.
It is bipartisan in the House and Senate, with overwhelming support for peace and the status quo in Taiwan. China has condemned Pelosi's trip, which took the delegation to Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea as well as Taiwan and Japan.
Its state broadcaster said the military exercises began on Thursday, the day after Pelosi left Taiwan and are set to end on Sunday, would be the largest conducted by China in the Taiwan Strait. The exercises involved live fire in the water and airspace around the island.
Five of nine missiles fired towards its territory landed in the exclusive economic zone of EEZ Tokyo, the defence minister Nobuo Kishi called it a diplomatic protest over the incident, and supported Taiwan's democracy, economic successes, and LGBTQ rights, the first Asian nation to allow same-sex marriage, for LGBTQ rights.
She said that if we don't speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interests, we lose all moral authority to speak out about human rights anywhere in the world.
China has some contradictions - some progress in terms of lifting people up, some horrible things happening in terms of the Uyghurs. It's been labelled a genocide.