World

Pelosi begins Asia tour

 
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi starts a tour of four Asian countries on Sunday, her office said.

"Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leading a Congressional delegation to the Indo-Pacific region, including visits to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan," her office said in a press release.

The release said the visit would include those countries, but did not specify whether Pelosi, who is number 3 in the line of presidential succession, might make other stops.

"The trip will focus on mutual security, economic partnership and democratic governance in the Indo-Pacific region," it said.

Gregory Meeks, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was among the delegation listed.

Pelosi's Asian tour comes at a politically sensitive time for Chinese and US leaders.

Xi is expected to seek a precedent-breaking third term at a Congress later this year, while in the United States, Biden's Democratic Party will face a hard fight to retain control of the US House of Representatives at November's midterm elections.