The White House on Monday denounced Beijing’s rhetoric about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s expected visit to Taiwan, vowing that the United States “will not take the bait or engage in rattlers” and has no interest in escalating tensions with the China. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stressed that the decision on whether to visit the self-governing island claimed by China was ultimately Ms Pelosi’s. He noted that members of Congress have regularly visited Taiwan over the years. Mr. Kirby said administration officials were concerned that Beijing could use the visit as an excuse to take provocative retaliation, including military action, such as firing missiles into or around the Taiwan Strait. “Simply put, there is no reason for Beijing to turn a potential visit consistent with longstanding US policy into some kind of crisis or use it as a pretext to increase aggressive military activity in or around the Taiwan Strait ” said Mr. Kirby. . The Biden administration pushed back against Beijing as Ms. Pelosi held talks with officials in Singapore on Monday at the start of her Asian tour. Although there have been no official announcements, local media in Taiwan have reported that Ms. Pelosi will arrive on Tuesday night, making her the highest-ranking US elected official to visit in more than 25 years. The United Daily News, Liberty Times and China Times – Taiwan’s three largest national newspapers – cited unidentified sources as saying he would arrive in Taipei after visiting Malaysia and stay overnight. Talk of such a visit has sparked anger in Beijing, which views Taiwan as its own territory and has repeatedly warned of “serious consequences” if the reported trip goes ahead. “If Pelosi insists on visiting Taiwan, China will take decisive and strong measures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in Beijing, without elaborating. “Those who play with fire will perish by it,” said Mr Lijian. “We would like to once again warn the US that we are fully prepared for any eventuality and the PLA will never stand idly by.” The People’s Liberation Army is China’s military. Chinese President Xi Jinping also warned the US against meddling in Beijing’s dealings with the island in a phone call last week with President Joe Biden. China is steadily increasing diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan. Threats of retaliation over a visit by Ms. Pelosi have raised concerns about a new crisis in the Taiwan Strait, which divides the two sides, that could upset global markets and supply chains. Beijing sees formal US contact with Taiwan as an encouragement to make permanent the island’s decades-long de facto independence, a step US leaders say they do not support. Ms. 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. Administration officials on Monday called on China to tone down the rhetoric, stressing that there was no reason for Beijing to escalate tensions across the Taiwan Straits over the potential visit. “What I can say is this: this is very much a precedent in the sense that previous speakers have visited Taiwan, many members of Congress go to Taiwan, including this year,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “And so if the speaker decides to visit and China tries to create some kind of crisis or otherwise escalate tensions, that will be all about Beijing.” 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 about 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 the Taiwan Relations Act, a federal law, to ensure 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. “We expect to see Beijing continue to use inflammatory rhetoric and disinformation in the coming days,” Mr Kirby said. “The United States, by contrast, will act transparently.” On Monday, Ms. Pelosi met with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, President Halimah Yacob and other cabinet members. Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Lee welcomed the US commitment to strong engagement with the region, and the two sides discussed ways to deepen US economic involvement through initiatives such as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. Mr. Leung and Ms. Pelosi also discussed the war in Ukraine, tensions over Taiwan and mainland China and climate change, she said in a statement. Mr Loong “underscored the importance of stable US-China relations for regional peace and security”, he added, in an apparent allusion to reports of Ms Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. Ms Pelosi said she was visiting Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan on a tour to discuss trade, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, security and “democratic governance”. On Thursday, Ms. Pelosi will meet South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo in Seoul for talks on security in the Indo-Pacific region, economic cooperation and the climate crisis, Mr. Pyo’s office said in a statement. statement. She declined to provide more details about her itinerary, including when she will arrive in South Korea and how long she will stay. Ms. Pelosi’s schedule for Wednesday remains unclear, and there are no details on when she will travel to Japan. 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