BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th August, 2022) China highly appreciates the statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan was a "carefully planned provocation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Putin, in an address to the participants and guests of the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security, said that Pelosi's visit to Taiwan was a "carefully planned provocation," aimed at destabilizing the situation in the Asia-Pacific region.
"China highly appreciates the position expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin," the diplomat said when asked to comment on the statements of the Russian leader.
Wang added that since Pelosi visited Taiwan, more than 170 countries have reaffirmed their commitment to the One China principle and supported Beijing's efforts to protect its state sovereignty and territorial integrity.
According to Wang, Putin's opinion represents a high level of strategic cooperation between China and Russia.
China had repeatedly opposed visits of senior US officials to the island, as it considers Taiwan part of its territory and opposes any direct official foreign contacts with Taipei. Pelosi's visit to the island in early August triggered a new round of tensions in the Taiwan Strait and a wave of Chinese sanctions against Taiwan. Moreover, Beijing launched large-scale military exercises in the vicinity of the island, which included live-fire drills and military aircraft overflights close to Taiwan's airspace.
Taiwan became alienated from Beijing after becoming a stronghold of the Chinese Nationalist Party (the Kuomintang) which suffered defeat to the Communist Party in a civil war in 1949. The Chinese mainland and the island resumed business and informal contacts in the late 1980s.
