US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taiwan on Wednesday after pledging solidarity and hailing its democracy, leaving a trail of Chinese anger over her brief visit to Taipei.
Pelosi, whose delegation made an unannounced but closely watched stop in Taiwan late on Tuesday after visits to Singapore and Malaysia, was scheduled to continue her Asian tour with stops in South Korea and Japan.
Her plane took off from an airport in the capital Taipei at around 6 p.m.(13:00 Jerusalem) local time.
"Thank you for your principled support for closer bilateral ties founded on our shared values of democracy, freedom & respect for human rights," Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen thanked Pelosi and the US delegation on Twitter.