China called the US a 'bully' after an official said China 'overreacted' to Pelosi's Taiwan visit

• China called the US a "bully" after a US official said the country "overreacted" to Pelosi's Taiwan visit.
• "The US is trying to defend the indefensible by applying a gangster logic," a Chinese spokesman said.

China slammed the United States as a "bully" after a White House official said the country "overreacted" to US House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to Taiwan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called the comments by US Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell a "sheer misrepresentation of facts and distortion of principles" during a press briefing on Wednesday.

"It is clear that the US is trying to defend the indefensible by applying a gangster logic and acting like a bully," Wenbin told reporters.

Pelosi landed in Taiwan on August 2 despite threats of a possible military response from China, which considers Taiwan Chinese territory and strongly opposes its independence.

The House Speaker was the highest-ranking US lawmaker to travel to Taiwan in 25 years.

During a call with reporters last week, Campbell said that China "overreacted" and that "its actions continue to be provocative, destabilizing, and unprecedented."

"China launched missiles into the waters around Taiwan. It declared exclusion zones around Taiwan that disrupted civilian, air, and maritime traffic," Campbell said, adding that China had "surrounded Taiwan with more than a dozen warships."

Campbell accused China of using Pelosi's visit to Taiwan "as a pretext to launch an intensified pressure campaign against Taiwan and to try to change the status quo, jeopardizing peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region."

China has conducted provocative military exercises near Taiwan this month in response to Pelosi's visit.

The Chinese government regards Taiwan as a breakaway province, and takes issue with any foreign support for Taipei.

Under the One China policy, the US does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan and does not support its independence. But Washington still maintains a robust partnership with the self-governing island democracy. The US government is also compelled by law to provide Taiwan with defensive arms and is its top arms supplier.

Beijing accused Pelosi of violating the One China policy via her visit to Taiwan, an allegation the Biden administration and the House Speaker have firmly rejected. The Speaker said the trip showed that the US will "never give in to autocrats," and characterized it as an important sign of America's support for democracy.