House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 82, got all the bipartisan backing for her upcoming trip to Asia, with a controversial stop in Taiwan, something Chinese officials have warned her not to do. Chinese Foreign Minister Spokesman Zhao Linjian warned Pelosi about repercussions if she travels to Taipei on her planned Asian trip in August. Warning Pelosi of “forceful measures” July 18, Lijian didn’t say what China would do if Pelosi goes ahead with the planned trip to Taiwan. President Joe Biden, 79, recuperating from a bout of Covid-19, BA.5 variant, said July 20 that the Pentagon told him it was not a good time for Pelosi to take a Congressional delegation to Taiwan. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway republic, a democratic, independent country supported by the United States since the 1949 Maoist Revolution. Former President Jimmy Carter signed the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, recognizing only one China, the one in Beijing.
Before Carter signed the Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S. government operated under the 1954 Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, where the U.S. agreed to defend China in the event of a Mainland Chinese invasion. That all change with the Taiwan Relations Act, leaving the U.S. to supply Taiwan offensive and defensive weapons with which to defend itself against Beijing. What makes Pelosi’s trip so dicey today are public remarks May 23 by Biden, breaking with over 40 years of “strategic ambiguity” about what the U.S. would do to defend Taiwan. Whether the U.S. “official” position changed under Biden isn’t known, but Beijing got a rude awakening. War hawks in Congress gave Pelosi all the blessings she needs to make the trip. War hawks in Congress are busy giving Biden all the support he needs to prosecute a dangerous proxy war in Ukraine fighting the Russian Federation.
Listening to conservatives would be a big mistake for the House Speaker. “Speaker Pelosi should go to Taiwan and President Biden should make it abundantly clear to Chairman Xi that there ‘s not a damn thing the Chinese Communist Party can do about it,” said Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.). Sasse talks like he’s ready to open up a two-front war, one with Russia and the other with China, stretching the Pentagon to the breaking point. Biden’s March 26 decision, announced in Warsaw, Poland, to get rid of 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin, was a big mistake. What started as a border dispute Feb. 24 with a Russian invasion of Ukriaine, has been morphed by Biden into a proxy war against the Russian Federation. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, 79, confirmed April 26 in Ramstein, Germany that the aim of the U.S. proxy war in Ukraine was to degrade the Russian military.
So, when Sasse and other war hawks talking tough on China, the Pentagon wonders how it would fair taking on the Russian Federation and China at the same time. “No more feebleness and self-deterrence. This is very simple: Taiwan is an ally and the speaker of the House of Representatives should meet with the Taiwanese men and women who stare down the treat of Communist China,” Sasse said. With belligerence like that, what does Sasse want, to open up a new war with Beijing? U.S.-Chinese relations are at a low point under Biden, insulting the Peoples Republic of China [PRC] accusing them of genocide in Western China against Muslim Uyghurs. Whether Pelosi goes to Taipei or not, the last one she should listen to are GOP war hawks. Biden already told Pelosi July 20 that the Pentagon has reservations about her traveling to Taipei at this time, a fairly clear message.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tried to clarify the White House position on Pelosi’s upcoming trip. “The administration routinely provides members of Congress with information about potential travel, including geopolitical and security considerations,” said Jean-Pierre, not saying what the House Speaker should do. Pelosi speculated that maybe the Pentagon was worried about her plane getting shot down. Pelosi knows the Biden White House is actively involved in a proxy war against the Russian Federation. So, anything that stirs the pot in China would not be a good idea at a time when Beijing has sent fighter jets into the Taiwan Strait to menace Taipei. Xi rejects Biden’s support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, viewing the U.S. as meddling in China’s internal affairs. Biden said he expects to talk to Xi soon but he won’t find a very receptive audience.
Pelosi should do the exact opposite of her war hawk colleagues in the House and Senate. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who was the last House Speaker to visit Taiwan in 1997, said Chinese officials don’t understand the separation of power in the United States. “What is the Pentagon thinking when it publicly warns against Speaker Pelosi going to Taiwan? If we are so intimidated by the Chinese Communists we can’t eve protect an American Speaker of the House why should Beijing believe we can help Taiwan survive. Timidity is dangerous,” Gingrich. Gingrich isn’t oblivious to past Chinese threats to invade Taiwan nor is he ignorant of the White House proxy war against the Russian Federation. Unlike Sasse and Gingrich, the Pentagon has enough on its plate battling the Russian Federation to rock-the-boat in Taiwan. Pelosi can do all her diplomacy with Taiwan on Zoom.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
