China sanctions Pelosi, cuts off defence talks with US

China has announced unspecified sanctions on US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over her trip to Taiwan and cut off defence talks with the US, as ties between the two biggest economies in the world continue to deteriorate.

The sanctions, which also extends to Pelosi's immediate family, were announced by the Chinese Foreign Ministry after the US House speaker left Japan after wrapping up her dramatic weeklong trip late Friday, reports Bloomberg. 

Although largely symbolic, the move makes the House speaker the highest-ranking American official sanctioned by Beijing.

In addition to halting talks with the US on defence, China announced it would cancel a dialogue with military leaders and halt discussions on climate – one area where the two nations had found common ground in recent years.

China's foreign ministry said it was also suspending cooperation with Washington on prevention of cross-border crime and drug trafficking, an area along with climate change where US officials see opportunity for cooperation.

Enraged after Pelosi became the highest-level visitor in 25 years to the self-governed island that Beijing regards as its sovereign territory, China launched military drills in the seas and skies around Taiwan on Thursday.

The live-fire drills, the largest ever conducted by China in the Taiwan Strait, are scheduled to continue until noon on Sunday, reports Reuters.

Taiwan's defence ministry said on Friday a total of 68 Chinese military aircraft and 13 navy ships were conducting missions in the sensitive Taiwan Strait. Some of them, they said, crossed an unofficial buffer separating the two sides, a move the ministry described as "damaging the status quo".

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington has repeatedly made clear to Beijing it does not seek a crisis over Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, which took place on Wednesday during a congressional tour of Asia.

"There is no justification for this extreme, disproportionate and escalatory military response," Blinken told a news conference on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Cambodia. He added, "Now, they've taken dangerous acts to a new level."

Blinken emphasised that the United States would not take actions to provoke a crisis, but it would continue to support regional allies and conduct standard air and maritime transit through the Taiwan Strait, adds the report.

China has denounced Pelosi's official visit as a violation of the US's pledge 50 years ago not to formally recognise the government on Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory. The exercises were Beijing's most provocative show of force since at least 1995, when it fired six missiles into the sea over several days after a US visit by Taiwan's then-president, Lee Teng-hui.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying defended China's response as "justified and necessary" Friday. "This is a fight against hegemony, against interference and against secession," Hua told a regular news briefing in Beijing.

Last year, Beijing sanctioned former US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, just as President Joe Biden and his administration took power. Pompeo only visited Taiwan after leaving the government and being sanctioned by China.

In 1979, the US formally recognized the government in Beijing and cut ties with Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory, as part of a "one China" compromise. Beijing views Pelosi's visit as the latest in a series of steps to "hollow out" that agreement.

China said earlier this week that Pelosi's position as second in line of presidential succession made her travel highly sensitive. Beijing has responded to her trip with unprecedented military drills around Taiwan, including firing missiles in the sea and crossing the median line that divides Taiwan.

"Despite China's serious concerns and firm opposition, Pelosi insisted on visiting Taiwan, seriously interfering in China's internal affairs, undermining China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, trampling on the one-China policy, and threatening the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

Speaking in Japan, Pelosi said her trip to Asia was never about changing the regional status quo.