White House summoned Chinese ambassador to condemn provocations after Pelosi’s Taiwan visit

By Natasha Bertrand and Kate Sullivan, CNN

The White House summoned China’s ambassador on Thursday to condemn China’s “irresponsible” military activities near Taiwan as tensions continue to escalate in the region following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island this week.

“After China’s actions overnight, we summoned PRC Ambassador Qin Gang to the White House to demarche him about the PRC’s provocative actions. We condemned the PRC’s military actions, which are irresponsible, at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability and across the Taiwan Strait,” National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby said in a statement to CNN.

The decision to summon Qin came after days of warnings to China not to escalate tensions in the region following the speaker’s visit to the self-governing island, which the Chinese Communist Party regards as its territory despite having never controlled it. It represents a shift from the White House’s attitude about the trip before it occurred, when officials privately tried to warn Pelosi over the possible consequences of the trip and how it could harm US-China relations. The meeting was first reported by The Washington Post.

In the days since Pelosi left Taiwan, China has taken multiple bellicose steps, both diplomatically and militarily.

On the diplomatic front, Beijing is sanctioning Pelosi and her immediate family and said Friday it would suspend cooperation with Washington on several issues, including combating the climate crisis.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said Chinese warships and aircraft conducted drills in waters around the island and that Chinese forces crossed the median line — the halfway point between the island and mainland China — in a move the ministry called a “highly provocative act.”

Two Chinese drones also flew close to Japan on Thursday, prompting the country’s Air Self-Defense Force to scramble fighter jets in response, according to a statement from Tokyo’s Ministry of Defense.

Kirby said the White House told Qin the US does not want a crisis in the region and reiterated there has been no change to the US’ “One China” policy and that Washington recognizes the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China.

“We also made clear that the United States is prepared for what Beijing chooses to do. We will not seek and do not want a crisis. At the same time, we will not be deterred from operating in the seas and skies of the Western Pacific, consistent with international law, as we have for decades — supporting Taiwan and defending a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Kirby said in the statement.

NSC Coordinator for Indo Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell met with Qin, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Kirby said Thursday that China is overreacting and using Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan “as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait.” He said the White House expects further provocative actions “in the coming days.”

“They’re claiming it’s a protest,” Kirby said. “I got it. But it’s also a pretext to try to up the ante in tensions and to actually try to set a new status quo to get to a new normal where they think they can keep things at.”

This story is breaking and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire
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