Q: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is scheduled to visit Southeast Asia and East Asia this week and Taiwan is not mentioned in her itinerary. What’s China’s comment?

A: Recently, the Chinese side has repeatedly made clear to the US side our serious concern over Speaker Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan and our firm opposition to the visit. We have been stressing that such a visit would lead to serious consequences. As President Xi Jinping stressed to US President Joe Biden in their phone call, the position of the Chinese government and people on the Taiwan question is consistent, and resolutely safeguarding China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the firm will of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people. The public opinion cannot be defied. Those who play with fire will perish by it. We believe that the US side is fully aware of China’s strong and clear message. 

We are closely following the itinerary of Speaker Pelosi. A visit to Taiwan by her would constitute a gross interference in China’s internal affairs, seriously undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, wantonly trample on the one-China principle, greatly threaten peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, severely undermine China-US relations and lead to a very serious situation and grave consequences. 

We want to once again make it clear to the US side that the Chinese side is fully prepared for any eventuality and that the People’s Liberation Army of China will never sit idly by, and we will make resolute response and take strong countermeasures to uphold China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, What the US should do is to abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three Sino-US joint communiqués, fulfill President Biden’s commitment of not supporting “Taiwan independence” and not arrange for a visit by Speaker Pelosi to Taiwan. 

Q: Two questions about Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Asia. The first is that in her official schedule, she said she’s going to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. There was obviously no mention of Taiwan. What’s China’s take on that? Is that cause for optimism? The second question is, you said the military would not sit by idly. Can you elaborate on that? What are we likely to see if she were to visit Taiwan? 

A: On your first question, we’ve seen the press release issued by Speaker Pelosi’s office, her own tweets and the press reports. I have made the Chinese government’s position very clear just now. 

On your second question, Pelosi is the third highest-ranking official in the US government, which means it would be highly sensitive for her to visit Taiwan no matter what. Whatever the timing or way she chooses to go to Taiwan, it will seriously violate the one-China principle and the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiqués and seriously undermine China-US relations. It will undoubtedly create an egregious political impact. If Pelosi visits Taiwan, the Chinese side will respond resolutely and take strong countermeasures to defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity. As for what those measures will be, let’s see what happens if she actually goes.