Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan sparks immediate reaction from China

Judy Woodruff:

The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, is in Taiwan tonight, and China is already responding.

Pelosi's late-night landing was quickly followed by news of Chinese military drills all around the island.

John Yang has this report.

John Yang:

The stars and stripes aglow on the tail of her plane, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taipei just before 11:00 p.m. local time. Taiwan welcomed her with a message displayed on its highest skyscraper.

Outside her hotel, dozens of people awaited her arrival, some to salute the visit, like 29-year-old finance worker Simon Lin.

Simon Lin, Finance Worker (through translator):

Thank you, U.S. Speaker of the House Pelosi, for ignoring China's threats.

John Yang:

Others to protest it.

The trip has drawn the ire of Beijing, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province and sees Pelosi's stop as a threat to Chinese sovereignty. Today, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman repeated threats of military action.

Hua Chunying, Spokeswoman, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (through translator): If the U.S. is bent on going its own way, China will take resolute and strong measures to safeguard China's sovereignty and security interests.

John Yang:

Across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait, it's a battle of drills. As soon as Pelosi arrived, China announced the beginning of air and sea military exercises around the island.

Ahead of the visit, China put its military on high alert and flew fighter jets close to Taiwan. This past weekend, the People's Liberation Army conducted live-fire exercises and released a highly produced video showing off its ability to defend the mainland.

Taiwan responded with its own set of military exercises. But, today, the official Web sites of Taiwan's presidential office and Foreign Ministry were both hacked. Amid threats of escalation, the United States has deployed four warships to waters east of Taiwan.

U.S. officials maintain the speaker's trip is a routine congressional visit. Officially, the United States recognizes one China and has no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan. But U.S. law commits the United States to help Taiwan defend itself.

In a statement after her arrival, Pelosi, a longtime critic of Beijing, called the visit "one of several congressional delegations to Taiwan and it in no way contradicts longstanding United States policy."

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang.

Judy Woodruff:

We will speak with President Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, on Taiwan and other issues in a few minutes.