North Korea sends letter of 'solidarity' to China after Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit

SEOUL, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- North Korea sent a letter of support to China following the contentious visit to Taiwan last week by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, state media reported Wednesday.

The "solidarity letter" was sent by the central committee of the ruling Worker's Party of Korea to its counterpart in the Chinese Communist Party, state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

Pelosi's trip to Taipei last week "was a serious infringement on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and an unpardonable political provocation aimed to defame the authority of the [CCP]," the letter said.

The California Democrat was the first House speaker to travel to Taiwan since 1997 and her visit sparked a furious response from Beijing, which has conducted large-scale naval and air exercises around the island since Thursday.

The drills, including ballistic missile launches over the island, have disrupted air traffic and shipping in the region and drawn condemnation from countries including the United States, Japan and Australia.

In addition to the military exercises, Beijing suspended regular military communications channels and climate talks with Washington.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (L) speaks to reporters while Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen looks on during a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 3. Photo by Taiwan Presidential Office/EPA-EFE

The North Korean letter expressed "full support and solidarity with all the strong, just and legitimate steps" taken by China to "repulse the U.S. arbitrariness, safeguard the territorial integrity of the state and achieve the reunification cause of the Chinese nation."

China views the self-governing island of 23 million as a wayward province that it has vowed to seize by force, if necessary.

Kim Jong Un praised the relationship between China and North Korea last month, saying it was a friendship "sealed in blood." He made the remarks during a ceremony to honor Chinese soldiers who died during the Korean War.

Beijing remains the isolated regime's closest ally and largest trading partner by far, although the COVID-19 pandemic has severely limited economic exchanges between the neighbors.

In May, China joined Russia in vetoing a U.S.-led push for new sanctions against North Korea at the United Nations Security Council.

Pelosi defended her visit to Taiwan in an interview on Tuesday, telling NBC's Today that it was "worth it" and calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a "scared bully."