China Protests Nancy Pelosi Lands In Taiwan And Will Meet President Tsai Ing-wen, White House: We Don't Want This To Be Conflict

John Kirby. (Wikimedia Commons/Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)

JAKARTA - White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby said President Joe Biden's administration did not want tensions over the visit of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan to turn into conflict with China.

In a press briefing to reporters, Kirby noted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has the right to visit Taiwan on Tuesday.

He also stressed that the trip was not a violation of China's sovereignty or America's longstanding "one-China" policy.

"What we don't want to see is this spiral into any kind of crisis or conflict," Kirby told reporters at a Tuesday briefing.

"There is no reason to increase this," he added.

On the same occasion, Kirby also said that the United States will continue to operate in the seas and skies of the Western Pacific.

However, beyond military moves, Kirby said China could use "economic coercion" against Taiwan without elaborating.

Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday night on a trip she said demonstrated America's unwavering commitment to the Chinese-claimed island. Meanwhile, China condemned the highest-level US visit in 25 years as a threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen will meet with Pelosi on Wednesday morning and then have lunch together, the presidential office said. Pelosi, traveling with six other American lawmakers, became the most senior US political leader to visit Taiwan since 1997.

Separately, Chinese warplanes buzzed over the line dividing the Taiwan Strait before their arrival, and China's military announced joint air and sea drills near Taiwan on Tuesday evening and tested a conventional missile launch in the sea east of Taiwan, China's state news agency Xinhua explained directly, shooting drills and other drills around Taiwan are held from Thursday to Sunday.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. The United States warned China against using the visit as a pretext for military action against Taiwan.