Sources: US House Speaker to Visit Japan Soon

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to visit Tokyo early next month, according to diplomatic sources in Japan said on Wednesday. 

The Japanese news agency "Kyodo" indicated that this news comes amid reports that Pelosi plans to visit Taiwan next month to show support for Taipei as it comes under mounting pressure from China.

Last April, Pelosi postponed her planned visit to Asia after she tested positive for the Corona virus.

On his part, US President Joe Biden plans to speak with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in the coming days at a time of rising tension between the two countries.

"I think I will speak with President Xi within the next 10 days," Biden told reporters upon returning from a climate-related trip to Massachusetts.

The long-planned call between the two leaders will come amid ongoing tension over the status of Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway province, and US's sharp cut in tariffs on goods imported from China to help reduce inflationary pressures on American consumers.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Biden and Xi  are expected to hold talks in the coming weeks, amid tensions over Taiwan, Russia, and security issues in the Indo-Pacific region.

“With regard to President Xi and President Biden, we expect that they will have an opportunity to speak in the weeks ahead, and I can’t talk to what may happen in the fall,” Blinken told reporters.

Moreover, Blinken stressed that the United States (US) is committed to working with the countries of the Indo-Pacific region to ensure freedom and openness for all countries there, referring to a new economic framework proposed by the United States, during the meeting of the leaders of the Quartet Security Dialogue (the United States – Australia – Japan – India) last May, which aims to accelerate and develop the local economies of the countries of the region.

“It means that people, goods, and investments can flow and move freely (between countries in the region), and it also means that countries will be able to make their own decisions and policies about their future without coercion from any other country,” Blinken explained.

Blinken spoke of other sources of tension in US-China relations, including the Russia-Ukraine war and the situation in Myanmar.