Russia views US House speaker’s visit to Taiwan as clear provocation

MOSCOW, August 2. /ST/. Moscow views US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan as a clear provocation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

“US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on August 2. We view her visit as a clear provocation, which is in line with the United States’ aggressive policy aimed at comprehensively containing China,” the statement reads.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are China’s domestic affair and Beijing has the right to take measures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity in relation to the Taiwan issue. “Russia’s principled position remains unchanged. We believe that there is only one China, the Chinese government is the only legitimate government that represents all of China, and Taiwan is an integral part of China,” the statement said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also called on Washington to refrain from actions undermining regional stability and international security, and accept the new geopolitical reality where there is no room for US hegemony. The ministry pointed out that Moscow had reiterated its commitment to the One China principle in a joint statement on international relations adopted following talks between the Russian and Chinese leaders on February 4, 2022.

In this context, the leader of Russia’s Liberal Democratic Party, head of the State Duma’s Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky has slammed the visit to Taiwan by the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi as the greatest provocation of all.

“Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan is the greatest provocation of all. And the reaction from the White House, which does not see any reasons for an escalation in her arrival in Taipei is tantamount to ignoring the position of China, which has not given its consent to such a trip,” Slutsky told reporters on Tuesday.

He stressed that Moscow fully supported the One China principle, considering Taiwan as its integral part. “This position was reaffirmed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China in February and was reflected in the joint statement by the two leaders,” he added.

Slutsky pointed out that Washington had deliberately decided to fuel tensions, although China’s leader Xi Jinping warned the United States that “the one who plays with fire risks getting burned.”

“Pelosi’s plane today drew a line in the sky over Taiwan that divided Sino-American relations into ‘before’ and ‘after’. Beijing has every right to take all steps it finds necessary to protect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Once again Washington acted as a provocateur and destabilizer of the situation in the region. Russia, as a key partner and a state neighboring China, cannot but be concerned about this,” he concluded

Compiled by: Basma Qaddour