WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will visit Asian countries including Singapore and Japan in her trip to the region, according to a statement from her office that skipped any mention of a possible stopover in Taiwan.
Pelosi will lead a congressional delegation that will also visit Malaysia and South Korea, according to the statement on Sunday. The trip will focus on mutual security, economic partnership and democratic governance in the Indo-Pacific region, it said.
Reports that her travel would include a stop in Taiwan had sparked a furious reaction in China, which regards the self-governing island as part of its territory. Beijing has warned there will be consequences if Pelosi visits, including a Defense Ministry statement that implied China might use military force in response.
China held live-fire military drills in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday. The exercises took place off the coast of Fujian province opposite Taiwan.
Bloomberg reported last week that Pelosi would also stop in Indonesia, which is set to host a Group of 20 leaders summit in November. Yet Sunday’s statement contained no mention of a stop in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.
Pelosi is accompanied by five fellow House Democrats, including Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks of New York.
Others are Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chair Mark Takano of California; Ways and Means Committee Vice Chair Suzan DelBene of Washington; Intelligence Committee member Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois; and Armed Services Committee member Andy Kim of New Jersey. Kim is also a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
No Republicans are listed as on the trip.
Pelosi said the group “will hold high-level meetings to discuss how we can further advance our shared interests and values, including peace and security, economic growth and trade, the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, human rights and democratic governance.”
The delegation refueled in Hawaii where they visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial and the USS Arizona.
