US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has defended her controversial visit to Taiwan.
"We will not allow China to isolate Taiwan," the Democratic politician said in Washington on Wednesday.
For example, the People's Republic is preventing Taiwan from becoming a member of the World Health Organization (WHO).
"But they don't stop us from going to Taiwan," Pelosi said.
There was criticism of her visit at the beginning of the month, especially from China, but also from other countries.
Referring to the US military's assessment of the visit, Pelosi said, "I don't remember them ever telling us not to travel." Democratic President Joe Biden had questions about the plans before Pelosi's trip replied, "I don't think the military thinks it's a good idea at the moment."
In response to the US politician's visit to Taiwan, China had been conducting large-scale military exercises around the democratic island republic for the past week and also practiced a conquest.
The Chinese leadership rejects official contacts from other countries to Taiwan because they see the island as part of the People's Republic.
On the other hand, Taiwan has long seen itself as independent.
Pelosi – number three by protocol in the US – had been the highest-ranking US politician in Taiwan for a quarter of a century.
Meanwhile, Beijing published the first white paper on the Taiwan issue in 22 years.
In this, China promises the island state a special status after unification.
But the choice of words is different than in 2000.