Pelosi Says US ‘Won’t Allow China to Isolate Taiwan,’ but Asia Visit ‘Not About Changing Status Quo’

The United States will “not allow” China to isolate Taiwan, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday during her Asia trip that has infuriated Beijing.

Pelosi made the remarks in Tokyo, Japan, on the final leg of her Asian tour after the Democrat and five other members of Congress arrived in the capital city late Thursday, having previously visited Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and South Korea.

“They may try to keep Taiwan from visiting or participating in other places, but they will not isolate Taiwan by preventing us to travel there … We will not allow them to isolate Taiwan,” Pelosi said.

Pelosi stressed that the visit to Asia was “not about changing the status quo” in the region.

“It’s about Taiwan Relations Act, U.S.-China policy, all pieces of legislation and agreements that established our relationship-have peace in Taiwan Straits and have status quo prevail,” she said. “This isnt about me, this is about them.”

Pelosi also called the self-rules island “one of the freest countries in the world” and “a great democracy with a thriving economy.”

When asked how she feels her trip to Asia will impact relations between the United States and China, Pelosi said that while it is important that communication is maintained between the two nations, “if we do not speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interests, we lose all moral authority to speak about human rights any place in the world.”

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) talks with Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (L) before boarding a plane at Taipei Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan, on Aug. 3, 2022. (Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via Reuters) Human Rights Issues

The lawmaker noted that while China has made progress in some areas, it is still a country of “contradictions”  and pointed to human rights issues such as reports