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United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has touched down for a controversial Taiwan visit that has angered China and sent global stock markets tumbling.
Pelosi is the highest US elected official to visit Taiwan in more than 25 years.
It's feared the visit could significantly escalate tensions with Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as its own territory and has vowed to retaliate but given no details.
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Speculation has centred on threatening military exercises and possible incursions by Chinese planes and ships into areas under Taiwanese control.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Washington's "betrayal" "on the Taiwan issue is bankrupting its national credibility".
"Some American politicians are playing with fire on the issue of Taiwan," Wang said in a statement.
"This will definitely not have a good outcome … the exposure of America's bullying face again shows it as the world's biggest saboteur of peace."
Pelosi's Asian tour this week was closely watched to see if she would defy China's warnings against visiting the island republic, a close US ally.
A plane carrying the speaker and her delegation left Malaysia on Tuesday after a brief stop that included a working lunch with Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
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Taiwan's Foreign Ministry declined to comment. Premier Su Tseng-chang didn't explicitly confirm Pelosi's visit, but said Tuesday that "any foreign guests and friendly lawmakers" are "very much welcome".
Barricades were erected outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Taipei where Pelosi was expected to stay amid heightened security. Two buildings in the capital lit LED displays with words of welcome, including the iconic Taipei 101 building, which said "Welcome to Taiwan, Speaker Pelosi".
China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province to be annexed by force if necessary, has repeatedly warned of retaliation if Pelosi visits, saying its military will "never sit idly by".
"The US and Taiwan have colluded to make provocations first, and China has only been compelled to act out of self-defence," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters on Tuesday in Beijing.
Hua said China had been in constant communication with the US and made clear "how dangerous it would be if the visit actually happens".
Any countermeasures China took would be "justified and necessary" in the face of Washington's "unscrupulous behaviour", she said.
Shortly before Pelosi was due to arrive, Chinese state media said Chinese SU-35 fighter jets were "crossing" the Taiwan Strait, the body of water that separates mainland China and Taiwan. It wasn't immediately clear where they were headed or what they planned to do.
Unspecified hackers launched a cyberattack on the Taiwanese Presidential Office's website, making it temporarily unavailable Tuesday evening. The Presidential Office said the website was restored shortly after the attack, which overwhelmed it with traffic.
"China thinks by launching a multi-domain pressure campaign against Taiwan, the people of Taiwan will be be *(sic) intimidated. But they are wrong," Wang Ting-yu, a legislator with the Democratic Progressive Party, said on Twitter in response to the attack.
https://twitter.com/MPWangTingyu/status/1554431195508723712
Visit sends Chinese markets tumbling
Global markets fell on Tuesday as investors the visit could severely escalate tensions with China.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid as much as 3.2 per cent in the morning, but pared losses to 2.4 per cent at close. Mainland China's Shanghai Composite Index ended down 2.3 per cent. Taiwan's Taiex closed 1.6 per cent lower.
Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 1.4 per cent, and Korea's Kospi lost 0.5 per cent.
European markets also had a weak start on Tuesday. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 dropped 0.5 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively, while the FTSE 100 in London inched down 0.1 per cent.
The Taiwan dollar weakened 0.1 per cent against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the Japanese yen, a traditional safe-haven currency, surged 0.6 per cent against the greenback.
Source: 9News
