A Sunday morning statement from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi included no mention of visiting Taiwan.
The potential of a visit from Pelosi had been denounced repeatedly by China, which views Taiwan as a Chinese province with no right to have separate diplomatic relations.
Concurrent with its official denunciations of the trip, China said that on Saturday its military was conducting live-fire exercises in the Taiwan Strait, which separates China and Taiwan, according to Nikkei Asia.
Joanne Ou, a spokeswoman for Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said she had “no further information to share with the media at this moment, nor have any comments on this matter,” according to The Washington Post.
The website of the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore said that Pelosi would be attending a cocktail reception the group is hosting on Monday, according to The New York Times.
CCP-mouthpiece The Global Times threatens Pelosi’s plane will be shot down if she visits Taiwan.
President Biden must give full support to this visit. Don’t be weak and cave to the demands of petty warmongers and dictators in Beijing. Support the freedom-loving people of Taiwan.
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) July 29, 2022
If Pelosi visits Taiwan , then war is a possibility
China has issued a warning, using the phrase
“不会坐视不管”Meaning “We will not sit idly by”
The same warning was issued at the Americans in 1950 when they crossed the 38th parallel, resulting in China joining the Korean War pic.twitter.com/SP0EwZ8FCu
— Zhao Dashuai 无条件爱国 ?? (@obsidianstatue1) July 29, 2022
Pelosi is leading a delegation of Democrats to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, according to the statement.
Will Nancy Pelosi visit Taiwan on this trip?
“Today, our Congressional delegation travels to the Indo-Pacific to reaffirm America’s strong and unshakeable commitment to our allies and friends in the region,” Pelosi said in the release.
“In Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, our delegation will hold high-level meetings to discuss how we can further advance our shared interests and values, including peace and security, economic growth and trade, the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, human rights and democratic governance,” she said.
The delegation includes Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York, Mark Takano of California, Suzan DelBene of Washington, Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois and Andy Kim of New Jersey.
Even Trump – who is anything but friendly to China – came out to say Pelosi’s Taiwan visit is a terrible idea.
In his words it would “make trouble”, turn things to “Chaos, Disruption and ‘Crap’”, “make the China mess worse” and “cause great friction and hatred”.
He’s right! pic.twitter.com/zgwyoEXnoE
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) July 30, 2022
Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan trip may be more self-aggrandizing than useful, argues Mike Chinoy.https://t.co/C5trIUCwiO
— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) July 26, 2022
A column by Wang Yunfei in the state-run Global Times that was published on Sunday suggested that a military response to any visit by Pelosi could include ballistic missile tests or flying Chinese fights over Taiwan.
Wang said China also could “establish a no-fly zone in the Taiwan Straits, prohibiting Pelosi’s plane from landing in Taiwan. Such a measure is pretty severe: It warns of the worst situation first; otherwise, the consequences will be at the U.S.’ own risk. “
Wang noted that Pelosi has not said she will visit Taiwan.
“But we should be vigilant that she may transit the island without official entry or pass over Taiwan without landing there or telephone or send a telegraph to Taiwan regional leaders when flying over the island. No matter which way she adopts, the Chinese mainland will still take related countermeasures. After all, any of them still challenges the one-China principle, and China will not sit idly by,” he wrote.
