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No need to come to blows, says White House on Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan

No need to come to blows, says White House on Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan

Nancy Pelosi

Underscoring the international tensions surrounding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan, the White House said Friday that there is no reason for China and the US “to come to blows”.

During the press briefing, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked if the US has noticed any Chinese military preparations due to her travel plans.

“There’s no reason for it to come to that, to come to blows, to come to increased physical tension,” he said.

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Kirby’s statement comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping warned US President Joe Biden not to “play with fire” by supporting Taiwan.

Citing security concerns, Pelosi and her aides have not confirmed her travel plans or named the countries she might visit during an Asia trip.

Warning of “resolute and strong measures” if she does, China has objected strenuously to any Taiwan visit by Pelosi.

With some Republicans urging her to visit Taiwan as a show of standing up to Beijing, Pelosi’s itinerary has also become a domestic political issue.

Although American presidents rarely deny requests by lawmakers to the military for supplying aircraft, in 2019 Donald Trump blocked Pelosi and other lawmakers from using a military plane to visit Afghanistan.

Experts believed that the decision was made by Trump after she told him to delay his State of the Union address.

(With inputs from agencies)

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