On Tuesday, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi became the highest-ranking American official in 25 years to visit Taiwan — the self-ruled island claimed by China, which quickly announced that it would conduct military maneuvers in retaliation for her presence, even as Taiwanese officials welcomed her and she headed to her hotel. She is the first speaker of the house to come to Taiwan in 25 years, since Newt Gingrich in 1997.Also Read - BREAKING: 3 Killed, 6 Injured In Knife Attack At Chinese Kindergarten
Her trip has caused uproar in tense US-China relations, with the communist giant sending jets to the edge of Taiwanese air space and launching military exercises that sent an unsubtle message that Taiwan is surrounded. Pelosi’s trip has heightened US-China tensions more than visits by other members of Congress because of her high-level position as leader of the House of Representatives. Also Read - Nancy Pelosi Departs From Taiwan, China Vows Punishment to Offenders | Highlights
The reason her visit ratcheted up tension between China and the United States: China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, and it views visits by foreign government officials as them recognizing the island’s sovereignty. Also Read - Taiwan Strengthens Defence As China Plans Live-Fire Military Drills On Island's Shores
Why is China Angry on Pelosi’s visit?
The geopolitical relationship between Washington and Beijing is the most important nation-to-nation clash on the globe. It is unfolding as a generational tussle between two civilizations keen to imprint their values, economic systems and strategic hegemony on the rest of the world.
And, Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan indicates some kind of support from the US for Taiwan’s independence. The visit would “severely undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, gravely impact the foundation of China-US relations and send a seriously wrong signal to Taiwan independence forces”, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijiang.
Why is Pelosi visiting Taiwan?
Pelosi has made a mission over decades of showing support for embattled democracy movements. Those include a trip in 1991 to Tiananmen Square, where she and other lawmakers unrolled a small banner supporting democracy, as frowning Chinese security officers tried to shut them down. Chinese forces had crushed a homegrown democracy movement at the same spot two years earlier.
The speaker is framing her Taiwan trip as part of a broader mission at a time when “the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy.” She led a congressional delegation to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in the spring, and her latest effort serves as a capstone to her years of promoting democracy abroad.
“We must stand by Taiwan,” she said in an opinion piece published by The Washington Post on her arrival in Taiwan. She cited the commitment that the U.S. made to a democratic Taiwan under a 1979 law.
“It is essential that America and our allies make clear that we never give in to autocrats,” she wrote.
How is China handling the tension-raising trip?
Soon after Pelosi’s arrival, China announced a series of military operations and drills, which followed its promises of “resolute and strong measures” if Pelosi went through with her visit.
China’s People’s Liberation Army said the maneuvers would take place in the waters and skies near Taiwan and include the firing of long-range ammunition in the Taiwan Strait.
China’s official Xinhua News said the army planned to conduct live-fire drills from Thursday to Sunday across multiple locations. An image released by the news agency indicated that the drills were to take place in six different areas in the waters surrounding Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said early Wednesday that China had sent 21 planes flying toward Taiwan, 18 of them fighter jets. The rest included an early warning plane and an electronic warfare plane.
What is US stand on Pelosi’s visit?
The Biden administration, and Pelosi, say the United States remains committed to its “one-China policy.”
Taiwan and mainland China split during a civil war in 1949. But China claims the island as its own territory and has not ruled out using military force to take it.
China has been increasing both diplomatic and military pressure in recent years. It cut off all contact with Taiwan’s government in 2016 after President Tsai Ing-wen refused to endorse its claim that the island and mainland together make up a single Chinese nation, with Communist Beijing the sole legitimate government.
Beijing sees official American contact with Taiwan as encouragement to make the island’s decades-old de facto independence permanent, a step U.S. leaders say they don’t support.
How did US respond to China’s Anger?
While Biden has expressed some wariness about Pelosi’s trip, the administration has not openly opposed it and said it is up to Pelosi to decide whether to go.
Ahead of Pelosi’s visit, the American military increased its movements in the Indo-Pacific region. The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group were in the Philippine Sea on Monday, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.
The Reagan, the cruiser USS Antietam and the destroyer USS Higgins left Singapore after a port visit and moved north toward their home port in Japan. The carrier has an array of aircraft, including F/A-18 fighter jets and helicopters, as well as sophisticated radar systems and other weapons.
US will not abandon Taiwan as China protests: Pelosi
Soon after meeting leaders on Wednesday in Taiwan despite warnings from China, Pelosi said that she and other members of Congress in a visiting delegation are showing they will not abandon their commitment to the self-governing island.
Today the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy, she said in a short speech during a meeting with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen. America’s determination to preserve democracy, here in Taiwan and around the world, remains ironclad.
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