A person familiar with the matter confirmed that Pelosi and her delegation landed in the city-state before dawn. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details to the media. Pelosi will call on Singapore President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and meet with several cabinet ministers, a Singapore Foreign Ministry spokesman said. He is also expected to attend a cocktail reception with the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore. There is no media access to her visit, which has been kept under tight wraps. In a statement over the weekend, Pelosi said she would also visit Malaysia, South Korea and Japan to discuss trade, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, security and “democratic governance.” He did not confirm reports that he may visit Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory. Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against meddling in Beijing’s relations with the island in a phone call last week with his US counterpart, Joe Biden. Beijing sees formal US contact with Taiwan as an encouragement to make permanent its decades-old de facto independence, a step US leaders say they do not support. Pelosi, head of one of the three branches of the US government, would be the highest-ranking elected US official to visit Taiwan since then-Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997. The Biden administration sought to reassure Beijing that there was no reason for them to “come into conflict” and that if such a visit were to take place, it would not mean any change in US policy. Taiwan and China split in 1949 after the Communists won a civil war on the mainland. Both sides say they are one country, but disagree over which government is entitled to national leadership. They have no formal relations, but are linked by billions of dollars of trade and investment. The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but maintains informal relations with the island. Washington is bound by federal law to see that Taiwan has the means to defend itself. Washington’s “one China policy” says it does not take a position on the status of the two sides, but wants their dispute to be resolved peacefully. Beijing is promoting an alternative “one China principle” that says it is one country and the Communist Party is its leader. A visit to Taiwan would be a career milestone for Pelosi, who increasingly uses her position in Congress as the US envoy on the world stage. He has long challenged China on human rights and wanted to visit Taiwan earlier this year. Pelosi’s delegation includes U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Mark Takano, Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Suzan DelBene, vice chairwoman of the House Ways and Means Committee; Raja Krishnamoorthi, member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and chair of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. and Andy Kim, member of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees.
Soo reported from Hong Kong.