Military concerned about possible Taiwan trip by Pelosi: Biden

Joe Biden says the US military has concerns about House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi possibly visiting Taiwan.

Nancy Pelosi at the US Capitol on Thursday. Picture: AFP

President Joe Biden said the US military has concerns about House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi possibly visiting Taiwan, following a report that she is making the trip next month.

“I think that the military thinks it’s not a good idea right now,” Mr Biden said on Wednesday.

“But I don’t know what the status of it is.”

The Financial Times reported this week that the Californian Democrat plans to visit Taiwan next month, triggering a warning from China that such a visit by the House Speaker would deeply damage relations with the US.

A Pelosi representative said her office does “not confirm or deny international travel in advance due to longstanding security protocols”.

A person familiar with Ms Pelosi’s plans said earlier that a trip to Taiwan had been discussed as a possibility as part of a broader Asia trip but wasn’t confirmed.

Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said on Tuesday that such a visit would “have a severe negative impact on the political foundation of China-US relations, and send a gravely wrong signal to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces”.

Beijing claims Taiwan as part of China and says Washington’s support for Taiwan is the most sensitive issue in relations.

The possibility of a Taiwan trip by Ms Pelosi is likely to complicate tentative efforts by the US and China to steady strained relations and throws into doubt a possible virtual meeting between the American and Chinese presidents, which their diplomats have been working to arrange as soon as this month.

Mr Biden said on Wednesday that he thinks he will be speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping “within the next 10 days”.

The Wall Street Journal