All national dailies reported extensively on House Speaker Pelosi’s arrival in Taiwan on Tuesday evening. She is expected to meet with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen today. The papers wrote that Pelosi is the third highest-ranking U.S. official after President Biden and Vice President Harris and that this is the first time for a sitting U.S. House speaker to visit Taiwan since Newt Gingrich in 1997. Pelosi said in a statement after arriving in Taipei: “Our congressional delegation’s visit to Taiwan honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant democracy…. The United States continues to oppose unilateral efforts to change the status quo.”

In response to the speaker’s arrival, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying: “The U.S. House speaker’s visit to Taiwan has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-U.S. relations and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for ‘Taiwan independence.’ China firmly opposes and sternly condemns this.” China’s People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command announced that it will conduct joint air and sea exercises, including live-fire drills, around Taiwan. According to the Chinese media, the PLA flew Su-35 fighter jets over the Taiwan Strait ahead of Pelosi’s arrival. Yomiuri interpreted these actions as a demonstration of China’s readiness to apply additional military pressure on Taiwan.

Nikkei and Asahi speculated that the tensions between Washington and Beijing will increase as a result of Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. Yomiuri wrote that the situation surrounding Taiwan is becoming increasingly tense. However, the paper added that Beijing’s rhetoric emphasizing its confrontation with Washington is intended for domestic consumption to justify its policy of strengthening its military. Sankei quoted a Taiwanese scholar on international relations as saying that Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan will have a greater impact than Gingrich’s visit 25 years ago because today’s international situation is very different from that of 1997.

Nikkei quoted Defense Minister Kishi as telling reporters on Tuesday that the United States and Japan share the view that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is important and that Japan will closely watch any developments based on this view.