US says Pelosi's Taiwan trip 'no reason' for China to escalate tensions

The Biden administration strongly defended House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan on Tuesday amid China's ongoing fiery response, saying the trip is consistent with longstanding US policy and is "no reason" for Beijing to further escalate tensions.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the Chinese response thus far has been "unfortunately right in line with what we had anticipated," noting Washington expects China to be preparing to "react over a longer-term horizon."

Some of the actions the US is preparing for China to take include additional large-scale military exercises, carrying out flights across the sensitive median line in the Taiwan Strait "and using economic coercion."

"There's no reason for China to take what is perfectly legitimate and consistent travel by the speaker of the House and turn it into some pretext for amping up the tensions, or creating some sort of crisis or conflict," Kirby told reporters at the White House.

"The United States will not seek and does not want a crisis. We are prepared to manage what Beijing chooses to do. At the same time, we will not engage in saber rattling. We will continue to support Taiwan, defend a free and open Indo-Pacific, and seek to maintain communication with Beijing," he added.

Asked if US President Joe Biden supports Pelosi's decision to visit the self-governing island, Kirby said "he respects the speaker's decision to travel to Taiwan."