Bongbong Marcos: Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan demonstrated intensity of conflict
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Saturday that the controversial visit of United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan did not fuel the existing tensions in the region, but only demonstrated its severity.
During US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s courtesy call at the Malacañang Palace, Marcos briefly touched on the issue which had caused strains in the US relationship with China.
READ: Blinken, Bongbong Marcos reaffirm defense treaty; President says it’s ‘in constant evolution’
“To be perfectly candid, I did not think it raised the intensity, it just demonstrated…how the intensity of that conflict has been. It actually has been at that level for a good while, but we got used to it and put it aside,” he said.
Defying warnings and threats of aggression from China, Pelosi landed in Taiwan last Tuesday, making her the highest-profile elected US official to visit the country in 25 years.
This move, according to her, is an “unequivocal statement that America stands with Taiwan.”
China’s rage over Pelosi’s Taiwan visit stems from its claim that the self-ruled island is part of its territory.
As a consequence, the Asian superpower has since launched live-fire military drills and trade curbs against Taiwan.
RELATED STORIES
How is China punishing Taiwan for the Pelosi visit?
Taiwan visit caps Nancy Pelosi’s long history of confronting Beijing
