China halts military, climate ties with US over Pelosi's Taiwan visit
Chinese and U.S. flags flutter outside a company building in Shanghai, China, April 14, 2021. (Reuters Photo)


China is suspending cooperation with the United States in a number of areas, including dialogue between senior-level military commanders and climate talks, in retaliation over U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visit earlier this week to Taiwan, it said Friday.

China's Foreign Ministry also said that it was also suspending cooperation with Washington on prevention of cross-border crime and drug trafficking, and on repatriating illegal migrants, among eight specific measures.

In a statement released soon after Pelosi left Japan on the final leg of her Asian tour, China also canceled a planned bilateral meeting on a maritime military security mechanism.

Beijing separately announced that it would personally sanction Pelosi and her immediate family in response to her "vicious" and "provocative" actions.

Pelosi's brief visit this week to self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own, infuriated Beijing and triggered Chinese military drills on an unprecedented scale in the seas and air around the island.