The Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned US Ambassador to the PRC Nicholas Burns and protested against his visit to Taiwan by Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, RIA Novosti reports.

Pelosi arrived in Taiwan today as part of a tour of Asia. She is expected to hold a videoconference at her hotel Wednesday morning and will also visit the island's legislative assembly, hold talks with Taiwanese Chief of Staff Tsai Ing-wen and participate in a welcoming dinner at the historic government mansion for distinguished guests.

China strongly protested the visit of the president of the US House of Representatives to Taiwan, condemning the move and calling it a serious violation of China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. China's Foreign Ministry called on the United States to stop playing the Taiwan card to control the PRC and pervert the One China principle by indulging in separatism in Taiwan.

Pelosi herself explained in a column for The Washington Post that the United States cannot stand by while China allegedly threatens the island and democracy itself.