After a trip to Taiwan that exacerbated tensions with China, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that she and the other members of her group had demonstrated their commitment to the self-governing island.
Pelosi, the first American speaker to visit the island in more than 25 years, courted Beijing’s fury with the trip and sparked a debate over its wisdom for more than a week after word of it leaked. She exhibited composure yet defiance in Taipei.
During a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, she made a brief speech in which she stated that the world was currently faced with a choice between democracy and tyranny. “America’s commitment to upholding democracy, both in Taiwan and elsewhere, is unwavering.”
After the delegation arrived in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, on Tuesday night, China, which asserts Taiwan as its territory and opposes any contact between Taiwanese officials and foreign governments, announced a number of military drills around the island, some of which will enter Taiwanese waters. China also made a number of critical statements.
The planned activities were condemned by Taiwan as a violation of its sovereignty.
Capt. Jian-chang Yu stated at a briefing by the National Defense Ministry that “such an act equates to closing off Taiwan by air and sea, such an act encompasses our country’s territory and territorial waters, and such an act severely infringes our country’s territorial sovereignty.”
The Chinese military drills, which will include live firing, will begin on Thursday and will be the largest ones directed toward Taiwan since 1995 when China launched missiles as part of a massive exercise to protest the visit to the United States of then-Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui.
Wednesday, Taiwanese President Tsai reacted forcefully to Beijing’s military threats.
At her discussion with Pelosi, Tsai vowed that Taiwan would not yield in the face of intentionally increased military threats. “We shall passionately defend our nation’s democracy and hold the line of defense for it.”
The military operations were reported by China’s official Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday evening, along with a map showing six different regions around Taiwan. Three of the locations, according to Arthur Zhin-Sheng Wang, a defense studies specialist at Taiwan’s Central Police University, encroach on Taiwanese seas and are less than 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) from land.
According to Wang, it is dangerous to use live fire in a nation’s airspace or waters because “this can potentially be considered as an act of war under international rules of engagement.”
Pelosi’s visit, due to her important position as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, tensions with China are higher than during visits by other members of Congress. Since Newt Gingrich in 1997, she is the first Speaker of the House to travel to Taiwan in 25 years. Other Congressmen, though, have traveled to Taiwan recently.
Pelosi received the Order of the Propitious Clouds from Tsai as a token of appreciation for her longtime support of Taiwan.
China has responded strongly and in a number of ways, including political, economic, and military ones.
China revealed live-fire drills that apparently began that night, as well as the four-day exercises beginning Thursday, not long after Pelosi arrived on Tuesday night.
Additionally, a group of 21 combat aircraft from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, including fighter jets, flew toward Taiwan on Tuesday night. The same evening, Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to Beijing, was called by the Chinese vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng to express the country’s protests.
China on Wednesday also outlawed the import of fish and citrus fruit from Taiwan.
Although it was not apparent where the drills were taking place CCTV, China’s national broadcaster, published pictures and video of them on Wednesday.
Wednesday morning, Pelosi responded to Beijing’s warnings, saying she hoped it would be apparent that while China had stopped Taiwan from attending some international gatherings, “they recognize they will not stand in the way of people traveling to Taiwan as a sign of friendship and support.”
She commended Taiwan’s democracy and pointed out that both parties in Congress support the island. While highlighting that Congress is “dedicated to the security of Taiwan, in order to have Taiwanese be able to most effectively defend themselves,” she refrained from expressing that the United States would defend Taiwan militarily.
She recalled that from her 1991 visit to Tiananmen Square in Beijing when she and other parliamentarians hung a tiny flag in support of democracy, two years after a violent military crackdown on demonstrators there, her focus has been constant. Human rights and what she referred to as risky technology exports to “rogue countries” were also discussed during the visit.
Pelosi met with some of Taiwan’s most well-known rights campaigners, including Lam Wing-kee, an exiled former Hong Kong bookseller who was arrested by Chinese authorities, at a human rights museum in Taipei that depicts the history of the island’s martial regime era.
Pelosi met with lawmakers from Taiwan as part of the trip she is heading with five other Congressmen.
Vice President of Taiwan’s legislative Tsai Chi-chang welcomed the delegation, saying, “Madam Speaker’s coming to Taiwan with the delegation, without fear, is the strongest defense of protecting human rights and consolidating the ideals of democracy and freedom.”
While maintaining that there has been no change to America’s long-standing “one-China policy,” which recognizes Beijing but permits informal relations and defense links with Taipei, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has attempted to downplay the significance of the visit.
Gregory Meeks, the head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, are among the “heft” members of Pelosi’s group. Reps. Mark Takano and Andy Kim are also in the delegation.
She also mentioned Rep. Suzan DelBene, who, according to Pelosi, played a crucial role in the passing of a $280 billion bill intended to advance American semiconductor chip manufacturing and research. Taiwan now leads this sector, which is essential for modern electronics.
As the second destination of her Asia trip which already included Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan, she left on Wednesday evening for South Korea.
