White House summoned Chinese ambassador to condemn provocations after Pelosi’s
“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.
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.
The US and China announced in Glasgow last year a bilateral agreement to cooperate on the climate crisis, widely seen as a progressive step that would allow China to work on key issues — like reducing methane emissions — without having to join global agreements that it had shown resistance to. The nations’ climate representatives had been in regular communication to build on that agreement.
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…
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