The United States has warned China not to respond to an expected visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with military provocations, even as American officials sought to reassure Beijing that such a trip would not be the first of its kind and would not represent any change in policy toward the region.
With tensions rising along with Pelosi's travels across Asia, John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said the administration was concerned that China would potentially fire missiles into the Taiwan Strait, send warplanes into Taiwan's air defence zone, or stage large-scale naval or air activities that cross the median line in the middle of the strait.
"There is no reason for Beijing to turn a potential visit consistent with long-standing US policy into some sort of crisis or use it as a pretext to increase aggressive military activity in or around the Taiwan Strait," Kirby said at a White House briefing on Monday (Tuesday NZT). "Meanwhile," he added, "our actions are not threatening, and they break no new ground. Nothing about this potential visit — potential visit — which by the way has precedent, would change the status quo."
Kirby did not say whether US intelligence agencies had detected any concrete indications of Chinese actions, but he was unusually specific in outlining the possible responses that the United States anticipated. White House officials have privately expressed concern that a visit by Pelosi would touch off a dangerous cycle of escalation in Asia at the same time Washington is already consumed with helping Ukraine fight off Russia's invasion.
![US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana Presidential Palace in Singapore on August 1, 2022. Photo / AP](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/UBOKQYNQOIBA3VKZ4X7IOJMEUE.jpg?auth=d01bc3caf75f5fa301a53d81a309dedd8e308ce0a90549278c307340425315ce&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)