Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. File photoTOKYO, Aug 6Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi completed her Asian tour, writes the Nikkei newspaper. The last item on the program was Japan, where Pelosi held several meetings, including with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament Hiroyuki Hosoda. At the meeting, the parties stressed the importance of strengthening the US-Japanese alliance and cooperation to implement the principle of a «free and open Indo-Pacific region», and also discussed regional security issues, in particular North Korea's missile and nuclear program, and the situation in Ukraine. The night before, a special flight with the American delegation left Tokyo. Pelosi's Asian tour included visits to Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia. In addition, despite strong protests from China, she visited Taiwan.Pelosi's visit to Taiwan undermined regional stability, Chinese ambassador said, making Pelosi the highest-ranking US official to visit the island in 25 years. At the same time, the US administration, which was warned by Chinese President Xi Jinping that «playing with fire risks getting burned,» assured Beijing of its perseverance from the «one-China policy» and distanced itself from the visit, saying that Pelosi makes decisions herself. As a result, the visit to the island became an impetus for a new round of tension in the Taiwan Strait. On August 4, the Chinese army began exercises off the coast of Taiwan, in addition, Beijing imposed sanctions against two Taiwanese funds, suspended the export of natural sand and the import of citrus fruits and some types of fish products from Taiwan. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs placed the responsibility for all the negative consequences of Pelosi's visit on Washington and Taipei. China does not recognize the sovereignty of Taiwan, considers it its province and categorically opposes any contacts between Taipei and officials and military from other countries. The United States does not maintain diplomatic relations with the island, but in fact not only actively contacts the local authorities, but also regularly supplies them with weapons. Chinese military ignores US attempts to contact them
