As China continued to demonstrate military might around Taiwan on Friday, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the Beijing government of using its visit to Taiwan this week as a pretext to intimidate Taiwan.

"The Chinese are doing their punches," Pelosi told journalists, referring to the military maneuvers in Tokyo.

"You're probably using our visit as an excuse."

Patrick Welter

Correspondent for business and politics in Japan based in Tokyo.

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Beijing reacted to the visit of the highest-ranking American politician in 25 years to Taiwan with great anger and military maneuvers around the island lasting several days, simulating a blockade.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing said on Friday that China had imposed sanctions on Pelosi and her family.

China summons Japanese ambassador

Pelosi had previously met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo for breakfast.

Kishida took the opportunity to reprimand China for the military aggression.

Chinese behavior has serious implications for regional and world peace and stability, Kishida said after the meeting.

He reiterated that Japan demanded an immediate halt to the maneuvers.

In discussions with Pelosi, they confirmed cooperation to ensure peace and stability were maintained across the Taiwan Strait, Kishida said

China summoned the Japanese ambassador over Japanese criticism of China's maneuvers on Friday.

The foreign ministers of Japan and the other G-7 countries called on Beijing to exercise restraint in a joint statement on Wednesday.

Japan is concerned because China fired ballistic missiles at a target area east of Taiwan that overlaps Japan's exclusive economic zone on Thursday.

China denies the Japanese allegation, arguing that the two countries have not drawn maritime boundaries in the relevant waters.

An exclusive economic zone is the area beyond a country's territorial waters where the country claims special rights to explore and exploit resources.

Four of the five missiles that landed in the exclusive economic zone claimed by Japan flew over Taiwan, according to the Japanese Defense Ministry.

It is the first time China has fired missiles into the Pacific over Taiwan.

Wang and Lavrov leave the room during Hayashi's speech

Meanwhile, diplomatic tensions between Japan and its neighboring countries in the wake of the Taiwan conflict are increasing.

According to Japanese media reports, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov demonstratively left the room in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh when Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi was speaking.

The session was part of the Asean Foreign Ministers' Meeting, which was attended by 18 East Asian countries.

As early as Thursday, Wang canceled a planned meeting with Hayashi in Cambodia at short notice, with reference to the statements made by the G-7 countries.

"It's not about me, it's about her," Pelosi dismissed criticism in Tokyo that her visit to Taiwan with a congressional delegation was a show event.

"We will not allow them to isolate Taiwan," Pelosi told Beijing.

She called the visit a signal to congratulate Taiwan on building a prosperous democracy.

"Taiwan is one of the freest countries in the world," Pelosi said.

The delegation's visit is not intended to change the status quo in Asia.

"If we don't stand up for human rights in China because of our commercial interests, we lose the moral authority to stand up for human rights elsewhere in the world," Pelosi said.

At the same time, however, she underscored the need to work with China on certain issues.