- Sam Cabral
- BBC News, Washington
5 hours
image source, Getty Images
The possible trip to Taiwan of the president of the House of Representatives of the United States, Nancy Pelosi, has provoked an angry rejection of China and controversy in the White House.
On Monday, China warned about “serious consequences” if Pelosi pays a visit to Taiwan in the coming weeks.
Since 1997, no US politician of such high rank has traveled to the Democratic island that China claims as part of its territory.
The possible trip has not only irritated Beijing, because according to press reports, the White House has tried to dissuade the 82-year-old Democrat from traveling.
Last week, President Joe Biden told reporters that “the military thinks it’s not a good idea,” despite his administration calling Chinese rhetoric against any travel “clearly pointless and unnecessary.”
Why Pelosi? wants visit Taiwan?
There is strong bipartisan support in the US for Taiwan’s sovereignty, both among American society and in Congress.
And during his career of more than 35 years, Pelosi has been an outspoken critic of China.
The House Speaker’s original plan was to visit Taiwan in April, but it was postponed after she tested positive for COVID-19.
The seasoned Democrat has declined to discuss details of the trip, but said last week that it was important for EU“show our support for Taiwan”.
image source, Getty Images
Pelosi unveiled a Tiananmen Square ‘Tank Man’ statue at a 2019 rally with Chinese dissidents in Washington.
Why is China opposed to the visit?
Beijing sees Taiwan as its territory and has repeatedly floated the idea of annexing the island, by force if necessary.
Chinese officials have expressed disagreement with what they see as a growing diplomatic engagement between Taipei and Washington. This includes a Surprise visit to the island of six US lawmakers in April.
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian warned that his country would take “firm and determined measures” if Pelosi continued with her visit.
“And the United States will be responsible for all the serious consequences,” he said.
A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense seemed to suggest that there might even be a military response.
“If the US side insists on going ahead, the Chinese military will never sit idly by and take strong action to thwart any outside interference and separatist attempts for ‘Taiwan independence,'” Colonel Tan Kefei told the daily. China Daily.
And difficult balancing act. By Barbara Plett-Usher, correspondent in the BBC State Department
The US policy on Taiwan is a balancing act: it recognizes that China sees the island as part of “One China”, but opposes any attempt to change Taiwan’s democratic status by force and sells weapons to Taipei. .
That balance has been complicated by Russia’s war against Ukraine, with Washington watching to see if Beijing might be taking that invasion as an example to follow.
They are also unsettled by increasingly aggressive Chinese statements and actions toward Taipei, including asserting that the Taiwan Strait is not an area of international waters.
President Biden is expected to discuss Russia and Taiwan with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week in a phone call to discuss the troubled relationship between the two countries.
But the specter of a Pelosi visit in this fiery political environment threatens to sharply escalate tensions.
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