China’s Foreign Ministry formally protested to US Ambassador to Beijing Nicholas Burns over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

Yesterday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned the US ambassador amid Pelosi’s visit and protested what it called “Pelosi’s unannounced visit to Taiwan,” which Beijing considers a “dissident province.”

“The nature of Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan is very ominous and the implications are very serious,” Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Shi Feng told the US Ambassador. He stressed that “the US must pay the price for its mistake. China will take the necessary and decisive countermeasures, and we mean what we say.”

Xi called Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan “immoral” and said the US should have “prevented” it but instead “colluded with him, escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait and seriously undermining Sino-US relations.”

In response to Pelosi’s visit, the Chinese Defense Ministry announced that it would launch a “series of specific military operations” around Taiwan. The Chinese army also announced that it “will conduct military exercises and training activities, including live firing, for 4 days in 6 regions surrounding Taiwan starting Thursday,” China’s Global Times reported.