LIVE VIDEO: Speaker Nancy Pelosi Arrives In Taiwan

The New York Times reports:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday, making the highest-level visit by a U.S. official in 25 years and setting up a tense standoff with China that could lead to more aggressive military posturing.

The trip is likely to prompt a sharp response from China, which bristles at any perceived challenge to its claims on self-ruled Taiwan.

China has repeatedly warned Ms. Pelosi not to make the visit, while the United States has warned Beijing not to turn the moment into a crisis.

NPR reports:

The visit was not announced in advance, and it comes as part of Pelosi’s tour of Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, where she has been leading a small congressional delegation. She is the highest-ranking elected American official to visit Taiwan since then-Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997.

The source familiar with planning for Pelosi’s visit says she will be given an award by Taiwan’s president and visit a museum before departing on Wednesday. The island democracy governs itself, but China claims it as its territory. Rumors of Pelosi’s visit launched a geopolitical firestorm amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and China.