This handout photo taken and released by Malaysia’s Department of Information, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, center, tours the parliament house in Kuala Lumpur, Aug 2, 2022. (MALAYSIA'S DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION VIA AP)

HONG KONG / BEIJING – Beijing on Friday announced its decision to sanction US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her lineal relatives over her trip to China’s Taiwan region.

“In disregard of China’s grave concerns and firm opposition, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi insisted on visiting China’s Taiwan region,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement, terming it as “a gross interference in China’s internal affairs”.

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“It (the 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 Straits,” reads the statement.

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In response to Pelosi’s “egregious provocation”, China has decided to adopt sanctions on Pelosi and her immediate family members “in accordance with relevant laws of the People’s Republic of China”, said the spokesperson. 

Other countermeasures announced by the ministry included canceling China-US Theater Commanders Talk; canceling China-US Defense Policy Coordination Talks (DPCT); canceling China-US Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) meetings;  suspending China-US cooperation on the repatriation of illegal immigrants; suspending China-US cooperation on legal assistance in criminal matters; suspending China-US cooperation against transnational crimes; suspending China-US counternarcotics cooperation; and suspending China-US talks on climate change.  

With Xinhua inputs