US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wants to make it "unequivocally clear" the United States will not abandon Taiwan, while speaking from the presidential office in Taipei.

"Now more than ever, America's solidarity with Taiwan is crucial and that is the message we are bringing here today," Pelosi said. 

"I look forward to displaying this award in the Speaker's Office, or wearing it there, at the Capitol as a symbol of our treasured friendship," she said of the civilian honor.

Nancy Pelosi and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen are meeting in the presidential office in Taipei, each taking turns to deliver remarks to reporters and officials.

Their remarks come after introductions to members of their respective delegations, and after Tsai bestowed Taiwan's highest civilian honor on Pelosi.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has received Taiwan's highest civilian honor, the Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen bestowed the honor on Pelosi on Wednesday, ahead of remarks delivered to reporters and officials in the presidential office in Taipei.

Tsai draped a blue sash around Pelosi, before pinning the award on her suit jacket. The two bowed to each other, standing on a stage, before turning back to the crowd.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen have arrived for their meeting Wednesday, following Pelosi's visit to Taiwan's legislature. 

Pelosi and Tsai entered the room together, waving to reporters and officials present, before walking through to introduce each other to their respective delegations.

Pelosi first introduced Tsai to the US congressional delegation, before going to meet a number of Taiwanese figures, bumping elbows with them in greeting.

During a meeting with the deputy speaker of Taiwan’s legislature on Wednesday morning, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated the United States' support for the self-governing island — and underlined her own long record of standing with pro-democracy and human rights groups.

"When you say that I'm a good friend of Taiwan, I take that as a great compliment," she told deputy speaker Tsai Chi-chang, after he thanked her for the visit.

Pelosi expressed "very strong bipartisan" support for Taiwan, and said the purpose of her trip was to "increase interparliamentary cooperation and dialogue." 

Pelosi is a longtime critic of Beijing: In her remarks, Pelosi also referred to her longstanding support for human rights, and to a previous trip she took to Asia in 1991, when she unfurled a small banner in Beijing that read: "To those who died for democracy in China." 

That came just two years after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, when a bloody military crackdown killed hundreds, if not thousands, of unarmed pro-democracy protesters in Beijing.

Hong Kong's leader John Lee, a former police officer and security chief known for his role cracking down on the city's pro-democracy movement, denounced US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan on Tuesday.

"Pelosi's visit is tantamount to encouraging 'Taiwan independence' and openly challenges the one-China principle, undermining the stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Lee said in a statement released by the Hong Kong government.

Lee, who became the face of a sweeping national security law in Hong Kong and who oversaw the arrests of dozens of activists and raids on newsrooms, was sworn in as the city's chief executive by Chinese leader Xi Jinping on May 8.

He was the sole contender for the job, selected from a largely government-appointed, pro-Beijing committee — raising concern among activists and former pro-democracy lawmakers, many of whom have fled the city since the crackdown began in 2020.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Tsai Chi-chang, deputy speaker of Taiwan’s legislature, on Wednesday morning in Taipei.  

Tsai said Pelosi's visit with a US congressional delegation represents “the strongest defense and consolidation of the value of democracy and freedom.”

Pelosi's visit to Taiwan comes after stern warnings from Beijing that it would take countermeasures in retaliation.

Tsai hailed Pelosi as a "true friend” and a “guiding light” in safeguarding human rights.

Nancy Pelosi is a longstanding critic of the Chinese Communist Party, reiterating on Tuesday that the US needed to stand by Taiwan as the island faces rising threats from Beijing

Pelosi had originally planned to visit the island in April, before she tested positive for Covid-19.

She has also previously denounced Beijing's human rights record, and met with pro-democracy dissidents and the Dalai Lama — the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader who remains a thorn in the side of the Chinese government.

In 1991, Pelosi unfurled a banner in Beijing's Tiananmen Square to commemorate victims of the 1989 massacre of pro-democracy protesters. More recently, she has voiced support for the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Pelosi's political tenure: The California Democrat comes from a political family; her father had served as the mayor of Baltimore, and represented the city in Congress for five terms, according to Pelosi's official House of Representatives biography. Her brother also served as the Baltimore mayor.

Pelosi was first elected to Congress in 1987, and elected as House Speaker in 2007 during the Bush administration. She is now in her fourth term as Speaker.

She is the third-highest ranking official in the US government, and the highest-ranking figure to visit Taiwan in 25 years since former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's trip in 1997.

North Korea and Russia, both countries with close ties to China, have denounced Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan.

In a statement carried by North Korean state media KCNA on Wednesday, the country's Foreign Ministry said Pelosi’s trip is “arousing serious concern of the international community.”

The statement expressed support for the Chinese government, saying “the issue of Taiwan pertains to the internal affairs of China.”

Moscow's reaction: Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that the Taiwan issue was "a purely internal Chinese affair," and warned the US "there is no longer any place for American hegemony."

"We consider her visit a clear provocation in the spirit of the United States' aggressive policy of an all-out effort to contain the PRC [People's Republic of China]," the statement said.

Some context: Beijing is Pyongyang's primary ally, and the main trading partner for both North Korea and Russia. China has not condemned Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

North Korea has previously made similar condemnations of the US over Taiwan-related controversies. In October 2021, after US President Joe Biden said the US was committed to coming to Taiwan’s defense if it faces attack from China — remarks the White House quickly walked back — North Korea accused the US of raising military tensions.