MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. The visit of a US Congress delegation to Taiwan is provocative and does not help to stabilize the situation in the region, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's economic cooperation department Dmitry Birichevsky said during a Rossiya-24 TV broadcast on Wednesday.
"You know very well Russia's position, it has been repeatedly voiced both at the highest level and by our [Foreign] minister. We consider Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and the following visit of US Congress there provocative. It does not help to stabilize the situation; it only escalates tensions in the Asia-Pacific region. And, of course, it inevitably affects the economy," the diplomat said.
"We see already that China has imposed certain restrictions on Taiwan. There are tensions, there is a confidence crisis in general in global economic relations, and now between China and the United States as well," he added, "Of course, if Americans want to have a serious confrontation with China, the economic situation will inevitably become even worse because China is an economic power comparable to the United States and it will be very difficult for Americans."
A delegation of US lawmakers arrived on Sunday evening for an unnanounced two-day visit to Taiwan. The group included five members of Congress from both parties. Their arrival on the island drew sharp criticism from Beijing and provoked the start of another Chinese People's Liberation Army drill in the region.
Tensions in the Taiwan Strait area rose sharply after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei on August 2 to 3. China's armed forces retaliated by conducting large-scale military drills with missile firing in six water areas around the island.