LONDON: Russia backed China over an expected visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, warning Washington that such a provocative trip would put United States on a collision course with Beijing. Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned US President Joe Biden against playing with fire over Taiwan in a call last week but three sources told that Pelosi was still set to visit island. “We cannot say for sure right now whether she will or will not get there, but everything about this tour and possible visit to Taiwan is purely provocative,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said expected visit was a provocative attempt by Washington to pile pressure on China with whom Russia has forged a strong partnership in recent years. “We consider a possible visit by Pelosi to Taiwan as another provocative action by United States aimed at exerting additional pressure on Beijing,” she said.

“Russia confirms principle of “one China” and opposes independence of island in any form,” Zakharova said. China views visits by US officials to Taiwan as sending an encouraging signal to pro-independence camp in island. Washington does not have official diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is bound by US law to provide island with means to defend itself. In Chinese civil war, Mao Zedong’s Communists defeated forces of Kuomintang (KMT), or nationalist party, under Chiang Kai-shek, forcing him to flee to Taiwan in 1949. China has repeatedly warned Pelosi against going to Taiwan, which it claims as its own. Beijing says a Pelosi visit would contravene one-China principle that Washington has vowed to abide by.–Agencies