China reacts to the visit of the head of the US Congress to Taiwan: The United States will have to pay the price

China summoned the U.S. ambassador to Beijing on Tuesday to blame him for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's shocking trip to Taiwan, Chinese state media reported.

 

Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng expressed strong protests about Pelosi's visit to the island, which Beijing considers part of its territory, during his meeting with Ambassador Nicholas Burns. This move is extremely shocking and the consequences will be extremely serious, Xie was quoted by China's official Xinhua news agency as saying. China will not stand by without a reaction. The trip by Pelosi, the most prominent U.S. elected official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, has heightened tension between the world's two largest economies, with Beijing viewing it as a major provocation. 

 

Mr. Xie warned that the United States will pay the price for its own mistakes and urged Washington to immediately correct its mistakes, take practical measures to reverse the negative effects caused by Ms. Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, Xinhua reported. Pelosi landed in Taiwan on Tuesday night, despite a series of warnings from Beijing. The Chinese military said it had placed itself on high alert and would launch a series of targeted military actions in response to the visit. Taiwan's defense ministry said more than 21 Chinese military aircraft entered the island's air defense identification zone on Tuesday, an area larger than the island's territorial airspace and overlapping with part of China's air defense zone. There has been no official comment from Washington at this time.