speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s office announced early Sunday that she plans to visit Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan during her Asia trip. However, the important stopover in Taiwan, which has been the reason for great tensions between the USA and China in recent days, was missing from the itinerary.

What happened: Pelosi will lead a congressional delegation to the Indo-Pacific region beginning Aug. 1, according to a statement released Sunday by her office, which made no mention of Taiwan.

“Today, our congressional delegation travels to the Indo-Pacific to reaffirm America’s strong and unwavering commitment to our allies and friends in the region,” Pelosi said in the press release. according to to Fox News.

“In Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, our delegation will hold high-level meetings to discuss how we can further advance our common interests and values, including peace and security, economic growth and trade, the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, human rights and democratic governance,” she said.

Pelosi’s announcement comes days after the President Joe Biden said US military officials believe a visit by the speaker to Taiwan “not a good idea.”

Also read: Bill Gates once described Trump as an illegitimate: “His first sentence kinda threw me off track”

Recently, China has strongly opposed Pelosi’s visit to the island nation, where it claims sovereignty. Chinese President Xi Jinping also expressed concerns to Biden about a possible visit by Pelosi to Taiwan in her recent call.

“Whoever plays with fire will perish” Xi said Biden.

Learn more about Benzinga’s coverage in Europe and Asia at the following this link.

Photo: Courtesy of Gage Skidmore on flickr