U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, in whatever pretext, will be foolish, dangerous and unnecessary, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said yesterday, warning the United States must take all responsibility for this provocation that will lead to the escalation of tensions across the Taiwan Straits.

Hua made the remarks after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged China to “act responsibly” in the event Pelosi proceeds with a visit to Taiwan and blamed China for trying to escalate tensions.

“Blinken’s words are distorting the facts and once again reveal the hegemonic mindset and extortionist logic held by some people in the U.S., that is the U.S. can do anything to make provocations, but others cannot oppose the U.S. or take measures to defend themselves,” Hua told reporters at a regular news briefing in Beijing.

Calling Pelosi’s visit a dangerous gamble, Hua said it is hard to imagine anything more reckless and provocative than this.

“The misjudgment or mishandling of the cross-Straits situation by the U.S. side will lead to disastrous consequences to not only the Taiwan region, but also the security, prosperity and order of the entire world,” Hua said.

The spokeswoman also pushed back Blinken’s downplaying the significance of Pelosi’s visit by citing previous trips to Taiwan by U.S. Congress members.

“The wrongful actions of certain U.S. politicians should not constitute a precedent and still less should become an excuse for the U.S. to repeat its mistake on the Taiwan question,” Hua said.

Hua noted that through its strategy of using Taiwan to contain China, the U.S. has been supporting and encouraging separatist forces to make deliberate provocations against China and challenge China’s redline on the Taiwan question.

Any countermeasure adopted by China will be justified and necessary given Washington’s unscrupulous behavior and its ignoring of China’s repeated opposition, Hua said, adding China is only exercising the right entitled to any independent sovereign country.

“We hope that the U.S. is clear-eyed about it,” she said.

The spokeswoman urged the U.S. to give up any attempt to play the “Taiwan card,” strictly abide by the one-China principle and implement the three China-U.S. joint communiqués.

“If the U.S. insists on pursing the wrong course of action, it should be entirely responsible for all possible serious consequences,” Hua said.

Meanwhile, two aircraft carriers of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy have reportedly moved out from their homeports respectively, Global Times reported yesterday.

The aircraft carrier Liaoning on Sunday embarked on a voyage from its homeport in Qingdao, East China’s Shandong Province, and the aircraft carrier Shandong on Monday set out from its homeport in Sanya, South China’s Hainan Province, accompanied by a Type 075 amphibious assault ship.

Xu Ying, executive officer of the aircraft carrier Shandong, said in a separate CCTV report Monday that the carrier was conducting regular training mission at the time.

In San Francisco, the United States, peace activists and community members Monday protested Pelosi’s expected visit to Taiwan, demanding that she cancel the trip and focus on issues facing ordinary Americans.

The rally, organized by a few groups, included members of Pivot to Peace, ANSWER Coalition, CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace and leaders of the Chinese community. People from different walks of life participated, holding signs proclaiming that “China is one,” “U.S. hands off Taiwan,” and chanting, “China is not our enemy.”

“There is no basis for Speaker Pelosi, the third person in succession to the presidency, to travel to Taiwan in disregard of the commitments made by our government,” said the protesters in a statement.

(China Daily, Global Times)