A visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prompted China to begin military exercises in the Taiwan Strait, which have been widely condemned.
said China would not isolate Taiwan by preventing US officials from travelling there and that America's commitment to democracy in Taiwan"remains ironclad".
While in Tokyo, Mrs Pelosi addressed the diplomatic storm caused by the visit - with five members of the US Congress - to Taipei."We have said from the start that our representation here is not about changing the status quo in Taiwan or the region," she said.
But with territorial claims to the island that date back all the way to 229AD, the Communist Party in Beijing sees it as a breakaway province of China that will eventually come back under its control - by force if necessary.
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