Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday, making the highest-level visit by a US official in 25 years and setting up a tense standoff with China that could lead to more aggressive military posturing.

The trip prompted a sharp response from China, which bristles at any perceived challenge to its claims on self-ruled Taiwan. China had repeatedly warned Pelosi not to make the visit, while the US warned Beijing not to turn the moment into a crisis.

In a statement released shortly after her arrival, Pelosi said the visit was a sign of America’s “unwavering commitment” to supporting Taiwan’s democracy. “America’s solidarity with the 23 million people of Taiwan is more important today than ever, as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy,” she said, adding that the congressional visit did not contradict US policy on Taiwan.

Shortly after Pelosi’s arrival, China’s foreign ministry condemned the trip. The visit, it said in a statement, “seriously undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, seriously undermines the political foundation of Sino-US relations and sends a seriously wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces”.

A separate statement issued by the Chinese Communist Party’s Taiwan Affairs Office said any attempt to seek independence by Taiwan would be “shattered by the powerful force of the Chinese people”.

The Chinese military has been put on high alert and will launch “targeted military operations” in response to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China’s defence ministry said on Tuesday night.

Separately, the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said it will conduct joint military operations near Taiwan from Tuesday night. The exercises will include joint air and sea drills in the north, southwest and southeast of Taiwan, longrange live firing in the Taiwan Strait, and missile test launches in the sea east of Taiwan, the Eastern Theatre Command said.

The defence ministry did not provide details about what the targeted military operations would include, or if they were separate from the exercises announced by Eastern Theatre Command.

Long a sore issue in a troubled US-China relationship, Taiwan — which has its own military and democratically elected government — has emerged as the front line in a geopolitical showdown over influence and power in Asia.

Under Xi Jinping, China’smost powerful leader in decades, Beijing has taken more aggressive military actions in the region and recently made strong claims over the strait separating Taiwan and China, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Xi has called for unification with Taiwan as part of China’s national rejuvenation, even potentially by force.

The US has sent a steady stream of senior officials to show solidarity with Taiwan. Recently, President Biden has said he would act to defend Taiwan in the event of a conflict, but White House officials have repeatedly walked back those statements, saying a longstanding policy of “strategic ambiguity” on the defence of Taiwan remains in place.

After a nearly two-and-a half-hour phone conversation between Biden and Xi last week, China warned that theUS was “playing with fire” if it allowed the speaker’s visit to take place.

As the plane believed to be carrying Pelosi approached Taiwan, several Chinese state media outlets reported that Chinese Su-35 fighter jets were crossing the strait, providing few details, including howfar the planes would travel or what they would do.

Clear provocation

Russia’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan was a clear provocation.

China has the right to take measures to protect its sovereignty, the ministry added ina statement. Moscow backedChina earlier on Tuesday overthe visit, warning Washingtonthat the trip would put the US on a collision course with Beijing.

New York Times News Service and Reuters