We are very much alarmed as tension between the USA and China mounts over US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Tuesday visit to Taiwan. Pelosi as the head of a delegation visited Taiwan as part of her Asia tour to show what she described as support for Taiwan and that the US government would not abandon its commitment to the island. It may be mentioned that Pelosi, second in line to the presidency, is the highest-profile elected US official to visit the island in the last two and a half decades.

Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan sparked furious reaction from People’s Republic of China. Terming the visit as a threat to the delicate cross-strait status quo, Beijing saw the visit as violation of China’s sovereignty and labelled the United States as the provocateurs and itself the victim. Obviously as part of its display of fury and sharp response to the visit, China is now conducting in the sea around Taiwan military exercises with targeted actions. China’s foreign ministry termed the drill as measures to resolutely protect its national sovereignty.

The world cannot afford another war at this delicate moment. The US and China should therefore exercise restraint and resolve the issue through dialogue and other peaceful means. European Union, the Southeast Asian nations including Malaysia and Thailand expressed concern and called for de-escalation of the tension and peaceful solution of the crisis. It is hoped that the US and China will handle the issue very carefully and spare the world people the disastrous impact of another war.