Taiwan: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s one-day trip to Taiwan ended on Wednesday as she departed from the Songshan airport on the self-ruled island amid tensions with China. The visit only lasted for 15 hours.
In Taiwan, Pelosi met Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, despite warnings from China not to do so. She praised Taiwan as an “island of resilience,” and said the US commitment to democracy there was “iron-clad.: This was the first trip of a senior US official in 25 years that was not backed by the President of the country.
Shortly after her arrival on the island, the Chinese anguished by the visit announced a five-day military drill. The drill began on Tuesday night and would run for four days which the Taiwanese called a violation of the islands’ sovereignty and amounts to a blockade.
Beijing sees self-ruled Taiwan – which lies 100 miles from the Chinese mainland – as a breakaway province that it aims to retake.