TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China's leader Xi Jinping (習近平) personally tried to persuade U.S. President Joe Biden to veto House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan on Aug. 2.

Xi made the request in a July 28 call with Biden, according to The Washington Post. The U.S. president was said to have replied that Congress is an independent government branch and Pelosi was free to go if she wanted.

He also warned that China should not take "provocative and coercive" actions if Pelosi did fly to Taiwan.

In a statement to the Post, Pelosi commented: “The support for preventing Taiwan from being isolated and preserving the status quo is bipartisan and bicameral ... This respect for Taiwan and rejection of violence is shared by the President as witnessed by his recent statements.”

“Any attack on me personally is not associated with the President but with some smaller anonymous voices within the administration who endangered the security of our visit by leaking the trip even before it was determined that we would indeed visit Taiwan," Pelosi added. "These small anonymous voices cannot be allowed to indicate any division between the White House and the Congress on Taiwan.”

Reacting to Pelosi's visit, China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait, flew increased numbers of sorties into Taiwan's air defense identification zone and crossed the median line in the strait, which was previously taken to be the border line between China and Taiwan. China also fired five ballistic missiles over Taiwan that landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).