Nancy Pelosi lands in Taiwan amid Chinese warnings, hails 'America's solidarity' with 23 million Taiwanese

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has landed in Taiwan amid Chinese warnings. Her flight landed in Taipei as China closed the east coast airspace around Xiamen.

After landing in Taiwan, Pelosi said that the United States continues to oppose unilateral efforts to change the status quo. 

"Our delegation’s visit to Taiwan honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant Democracy. Our discussions with Taiwan leadership reaffirm our support for our partner & promote our shared interests, including advancing a free & open Indo-Pacific region," she tweeted.

Our visit is one of several Congressional delegations to Taiwan  and it in no way contradicts longstanding United States policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, US China Joint Communiques and the Six Assurances.

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) August 2, 2022

China has slammed Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit  "extremely dangerous". Taiwan and China split in 1949 after the Communists won a civil war on the mainland. The US maintains informal relations and defence ties with Taiwan even as it recognizes Beijing as the government of China.

Beijing sees official American contact with Taiwan as an encouragement to make the island's decades-old de facto independence permanent, a step US Leaders say they don't support.

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