Pelosi, Japan PM discuss Taiwan tensions

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo Friday morning. The meeting between the two leaders comes amid heightened tensions between China and the US.  Ms Pelosi arrived in Japan on the final leg of her trip to Asia. Ms. Pelosi and a US congressional delegation visited Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and South Korea earlier this week. She began the key tour from Singapore on Monday after that, she arrived in Taiwan for a less than 24-hour stay, which flared up tensions with China. 

Pelosi and Kishida posed for the media at the Prime Minister's office, where they discussed the situation with Taiwan. They also talked over their countries' shared deterrence capabilities and commitment to ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific. Kishida said, "We confirmed that Japan and the US will continue to work together closely to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait." On Friday, Pelosi held a news conference at the US Embassy in Tokyo. Pelosi said, "We have said from the start that our representation here is not about changing the status quo here in Asia, changing the status quo on Taiwan. It's about again the Taiwan relations act, the US-China policy, all of the pieces of legislation and agreements that have established what our relationship is." Pelosi stressed that the United States will not allow China to isolate Taiwan.
Earlier, Ms Pelosi said that a US congressional delegation traveled to South Korea and visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone that divides North and South Korea. She met with South Korean political leaders in Seoul on Thursday. Ms Pelosi said the delegation also visited Seoul and praised what she described as a strong bond between the US and South Korea.