House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Washington, DC.
Jabin Botsford/Getty Images
Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan this week despite China repeatedly warning her not to.
China announced sanctions on Pelosi and her family on Friday, citing the trip.
It did not immediately specify what the sanctions were, but called her visit an “egregious provocation.”
China imposed sanctions on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in response her visit to Taiwan earlier this week, a move which infuriated Beijing.
Pelosi visited Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, from Tuesday to Wednesday.
It came despite weeks of attempts by China to prevent the visit, which covered threats of military and economic consequences.
Upon her arrival, China flew several warplanes, including fighter jets, across Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, announced military drills around Taiwan, and imposed import bans on thousands of Taiwanese goods.
China sees Taiwan as part of its territory, and has for decades pressured governments not to recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation. Some military experts believe that China may eventually invade the island.
The Chinese foreign ministry said Pelosi’s visit “gravely undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, seriously tramples on the one-China principle, and severely threatens peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
It did not say what the sanctions were, but said they also included her “immediate family members.” Previous Chinese sanctions against Western lawmakers have included banning their travel to China and freezing any assets they might have there.
Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, also told reporters on Friday that the US should have stopped Pelosi from visiting Taiwan, state media reported.
China has sanctioned top Western politicians before. In 2020, it announced unspecified sanctions against politicians including Sens. Ted Cruz and Marcio Rubio in response to US measures against aimed at those accused of violating humans rights and political freedoms in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Similarly, China last year sanctioned British MPs like Tom Tugendhat and Iain Duncan Smith, former leader of the Conservative Party, after they called for sanctions against China for its repression of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.