Kremlin Expresses "Solidarity" With China, Calls Pelosi Taiwan Visit A "Provocation"
On Friday the Kremlin issued a statement expressing "solidarity" with China amid soaring tensions with the US over Taiwan, especially at a moment Nancy Pelosi is ready to become the first US House Speaker to visit the democratic-run island in 25 years.
Coming just after Presidents Biden and Xi Jinping spoke by phone Thursday, wherein the Chinese leader warned the US not to "play with fire" over the self-ruled island, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said to reporters, "Certainly we are in solidarity" with China.
"We respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and believe that no country in the world should have the right to question this or take any inflammatory or other steps," Peskov asserted.
"We are convinced that such behavior on the international arena can only cause additional tension," he added in reference to the potential Pelosi trip next week, and US policy toward the island in general.
Russian Foreign Minister too, in separate comments on the same day, blasted Washington policy on Taiwan, underscoring that the US administration's rhetoric on upholding the One China policy is not being matched in practice, according to TASS:
"Our position of having only one China remains unchanged, the same position in words is periodically confirmed by the United States, but in practice, as you yourself understand, actions do not always match their words. We have no problem with defending the principle of China's sovereignty, and we assume that no irritants, no provocations that could aggravate this situation will be undertaken," Lavrov said in reply to a question about the situation around Taiwan and possible plans of Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to pay a visit to Taiwan.
So clearly Moscow is joining Beijing in framing the possible Pelosi visit as a "provocation" - coming after months of China resisting Western pressure to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Instead, China's Foreign Ministry has at every turn appeared to back the Kremlin's argument that NATO expansion is enough of a threat to Russia's national security that it had to act against Ukraine.
Pelosi's scheduled Asia tour has kicked off Friday - to include Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore over the coming days. On the same day, The Washington Post's Josh Rogin reported that a Taiwan stopover is "expected to happen" during the "early part" of the trip, based on diplomatic sources.
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