China issues a blunt warning to the US amid reports that Speaker Pelosi may still plan on visiting Taiwan

During a Thursday phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, Xi issued a thinly veiled threat to Joe Biden regarding a possible trip to Taiwan by Speaker Pelosi.

Friday, China issued a much more direct threat against the United States: If fighter jets escort Pelosi’s plane, they will all be shot down.

From The Daily Mail:

“If US fighter jets escort Pelosi’s plane into Taiwan, it is invasion. The PLA has the right to forcibly dispel Pelosi’s plane and the US fighter jets, including firing warning shots and making tactical movement of obstruction. If ineffective, then shoot them down,” Hu Xijin, a commentator with the Chinese state-affiliated Global Times, wrote.

Furthermore, Chinese foreign minister Zhao Lijan threatens that the US must be willing to “bear all consequences” if Pelosi visits Taiwan.

However, National Security spokesperson John Kirby said the same day that they see no indication of a military threat by China.

China has long held a claim on the island nation of Taiwan, and also has long held that they will invade the smaller nation militarily to one day take control.

For these reasons, when nations like the United States attempt to bring about closer ties with Taiwan, China gets more dangerous.

As tensions over the island rise once again, the US, China, and Taiwan all prepare naval and military exercises.

Although Joe Biden admitted that the Pentagon does not consider a trip to Taiwan a good idea at the time, he also stated that he is currently unaware of the status of said trip.

Pelosi herself continues to dodge questions on the matter, stating that for security issues she refuses to answer about her travel plans.

Whether she goes to Taiwan could quite literally be the difference between war and peace, the way China says it.