Taiwan: Nancy Pelosi trip labelled as 'extremely dangerous' by Beijing | 3NEWS.com

China has branded a landmark visit to Taiwan by US Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “extremely dangerous”.

It accused Ms Pelosi, the most senior US politician in 25 years to visit the island China claims as its own, of “playing with fire”.

Taiwan denied those reports at the time – but later said that more than 20 Chinese military planes had entered its air defence zone on Tuesday.

China – which sees Taiwan as a breakaway province which will one day reunite with it – has previously warned that its armed forces “will not stand idly by”.

In her statement, Ms Pelosi said: “America’s solidarity with the 23 million people of Taiwan is more important today than ever, as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy.”

“In the face of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) accelerating aggression, our congressional delegation’s visit should be seen as an unequivocal statement that America stands with Taiwan, our democratic partner, as it defends itself and its freedom,” she said.

That includes selling weapons for Taiwan to defend itself.