nancy pelosi, defying the wishes of beijing and the biden white house, was clear about her support for taiwan during her short visit there. we will not abandon our commitment to taiwan, and we are proud of our enduring friendship. today, pelosi met these human rights activists, further stoking china s irritation. two are pro democracy campaigners who previously been detained by the chinese authorities. the third, wu er kaixi, is a famous student activist who led the 1989 tiananmen protests. nancy pelosi s outspoken support for human rights in china dates back to that period. here she is more than three decades ago, participating in a memorial for those killed near tiananmen, shocking her chinese hosts. china was determined not to be caught off guard by this visit. its announced plans to carry out
up up next, a potential $4.5 billion support package that would label the island a key us ally, leading, perhaps, to more trouble for us china relations on the horizon. celia hatton, bbc news. let s speak to victor gao, a former diplomat and chinese government advisor. the visit had been ill advised, so why did nancy pelosi go ahead? she has had why did nancy pelosi go ahead? sue: has had a why did nancy pelosi go ahead? 51g: has had a long standing interest in the region, she has been a critic of china for a long time and a supporter of taiwan. this visit was meant to happen earlier in the year, but nancy pelosi got co video at that time. i think she is coming perhaps to the end of her time as speaker, she may not hold that post
live fire drills in six areas, encircling taiwan by air and by sea. the joint military operations are a necessary step in response to the dangerous moves of the us and taiwan authorities, says this chinese army commander. china says the exercises will practice forjoint air and sea blockades and land attacks, among other things, sometimes getting as close as nine nautical miles from the island s coastline. the drills are certain to raise concerns across taiwan, highlighting beijing s ability to cut off air and sea access to this normally bustling island. beijing s also announced immediate bans on some imports and exports to taiwan. but taiwan s president is clear she wants to foster even stronger ties with washington, no matter the pressure from across the strait. facing deliberately
after november s mid term election. so this might be, in some sense, a swan song for her. but it is also a reflection, if you like, of the heightened problems in that part of the east china sea, around taiwan. america has warned of serious chinese provocations that have been increasing over the last six months and it wants to demonstrate that nancy pelosi is helping the administration, demonstrate its resolve to defend democracy in taiwan. the policy for years has been one of ambiguity, one of strategic ambiguity, keeping china guessing on how and what way america would defend taiwanese democracy. joe biden, three times in the last 18 months or so has given a hint he may be taking a much harder line. so tensions between china and the us
0ur asia pacific editor celia hatton has this report. nancy pelosi, defying the wishes of beijing and the biden white house, was clear about her support for taiwan during her short visit there. we will not abandon our commitment to taiwan, and we are proud of our enduring friendship. today, pelosi met these human rights activists, further stoking china s irritation. two are pro democracy campaigners who previously been detained by the chinese authorities. the third, wu er kaixi, is a famous student activist who led the 1989 tiananmen protests. nancy pelosi s outspoken support for human rights in china dates back to that period. here she is more than three decades ago, participating in a memorial for those killed near tiananmen, shocking her chinese hosts.