Flight of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei on Tuesday (Photo : Reuters)
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plane landed in Taiwan amid a heightened security threat from China, media reports said on Tuesday.
China had warned the US that it will "pay the price" if Pelosi visits Taiwan, which is the highest level of US visits in more than two decades.
"What I can tell you is, the US will definitely have to bear responsibility and pay the price for harming China's sovereignty and security interests," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a press briefing in Beijing adding that China will take "firm and powerful" measures in response.
On Monday, US National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said the US Speaker has the right to visit Taiwan and that her visit was not 'uncommon'.
In a phone call between the US and Chinese presidents last week, Xi Jinping told Biden that China would safeguard national sovereignty and said those who play with fire will perish by it. Biden, meanwhile, told the Chinese President that US policy on Taiwan hasn't changed and that Washington opposes unilateral changes to the status quo.