The speaker of the American House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, began her Asian tour on Monday with a first stop in Singapore, maintaining the vagueness around a stopover in Taiwan which could further aggravate the already tense relations between Beijing and Washington.
The official stopped in Singapore, where Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called on her to work for “stable” relations with Beijing. A meeting with the president of the city-state is also planned.
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After having long maintained the vagueness around her program in Asia, Nancy Pelosi announced on Sunday leading “a congressional delegation to the Indo-Pacific region to reaffirm America’s unwavering commitment to its allies and friends in the region”.
“In Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, we will hold high-level meetings to discuss how we can promote our common values and interests,” she added, without mentioning Taiwan in the post. his route.
A provocation for Beijing
For weeks, tensions between the United States and China have risen over reports that it may visit the self-governing island, which China considers part of its territory. Beijing would see a passage, even brief, of the speaker of the House of Representatives on the island as a provocation.
Delegations of US officials travel to Taiwan frequently to express their support, but a visit by Pelosi, one of the state’s most senior figures and a heavyweight in US politics, would be unprecedented since that of her predecessor Newt. Gingrich in 1997.
The United States practices a so-called “strategic ambiguity” diplomacy with regard to Taiwan, consisting in recognizing only one Chinese government, that of Beijing, while continuing to provide decisive support to Taipei but refraining from saying whether or not they would militarily defend the island in the event of an invasion.
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