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Nancy Pelosi Visited Taiwan, What Now?

When Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s Asia tour began, the government of China had one warning: don’t visit Taiwan. After weeks of warning from Xi Jinping, Pelosi landed in Taipei, Taiwan to meet with the Taiwanese President. Although the visit wasn’t a surprise, the immediate retaliation against Pelosi and the United States wasn’t entirely planned for. The Chinese government denounced the visit and launched military exercises within hours of Pelosi’s landing, as well as suspended climate talks with the US.

Why the animosity between Taiwan and China? It’s a familiar story: Taiwan claims to be its own independent country while China claims Taiwan as part of its territory. Two large migrations of Chinese citizens to Taiwan are the main reason that the People’s Republic of China lays claim over the land; one occurred in the 17th century when it was still a Dutch colony, and the other when the losing side of the Chinese Civil war retreated to the island. 

What comes next is tricky. Taiwan's defense ministry reported that as of China's third day running military drills, the actions seem to imitate an invasion of Taiwan. Missiles have landed in seas surrounding the island and military ships and planes have flown a path dangerously close to the mainland of the nation. Some are suggesting that the US take even stronger action to support Taiwan's democracy, while cautious spectators urge the US to stay out of it as to not increase the already high tensions with China.

Liberal Political Commentary

Another day, another democracy in crisis. Taiwan has held its own for centuries and proved to be a functioning democracy. China's claim over the land is weak and nothing more than a power grab. Nancy Pelosi's visit to China didn't come without a cost, but it showed the Taiwanese people that the United States is with them. It's devastating for the sake of global cooperation that diplomatic ties have been strained and climate negotiations have ceased because of the visit, but it needed to happen. 

The United States had a rare opportunity to add some good karma to its rough history of supporting smaller democracies being threatened, and thankfully, the nation took it. There is a balance between supporting Taiwan and keeping good relations with China, and it's important that everyone-- especially the US-- attempt to keep it. 

Conservative Political Commentary

The trip to Taiwan by Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has led to immediate and forceful backlash from China. Her trip to the small democratic country has invoked the wrath of China. They have cancelled future talks and meetings with U.S. officials for the time being with no word for when they would be willing to resume them. China has also ceased to cooperate with the United States in other matters. They have ended the repatriation of illegal immigrants, transnational criminal investigations, and illegal drug trade measures. Any work towards a policy for climate change has been halted as well, which is unfortunate given that the U.S. and China are the top two contributors to climate pollution. Together the two countries create 40% of fossil fuel emissions(Knickmeyer et al). Yet due to the visit, it seems the problem of climate change will remain unsolved.

In addition to these sanctions and countermeasures against the U.S., China has also launched military exercises with live fire toward Taiwan. A few of these missiles landed in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, which for obvious reasons angered the Japanese. According to Yeung, “Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday called for an immediate halt to China's drills, saying they were a serious issue concerning the security of [Japan] and its people." This has led China to cancel meetings and talks with Japan. The visit by Pelosi has therefore led several countries to have increased tensions with China. There seems to be no benefit from the visit to Taiwan save the congresswoman’s ability to boast her ability to cause international tension.

A small island nation is being threatened, it must be time for Big Brother United States to save the day, right? When has our country involving itself in foreign conflict ever gone wrong-- well, not counting Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea, Hawaii, Cuba, Panama, the Philippines, and Iraq? The US has done horrible things under the name of "defending democracy" so it's reasonable to be suspicious of why exactly top officials would increase tensions with another world superpower just to cheer on an island nation. That isn't to say that Taiwan isn't legitimate, it very much is. Every nation deserves independence and to democratically elect its own government. The US hasn't historically agreed with that, but hey, maybe they're turning over a new leaf?

Situations like this are dangerous, and it often comes down to a weight of morals. Do we stand behind a democratic nation being declared illegitimate and risk the end of diplomatic ties to a world superpower, or do we stay out of it and maintain a decent relationship with a country that could pose a very real threat to the US and its allies? I can see both sides on this issue, and I hate to say leave them to their own devices, but in this case, I will. China and Russia are closer than ever, and if the two combined their economic and militaristic resources to harm the United States it wouldn't end well. 

Written by Ashlyn Hill

Nancy Pelosi wrongfully used Taiwan to create a political stunt. While she claimed the visit was to assure Taiwan of the United States' undying support for the small democrat nation, the facts show it was a provocative act. In her op-ed for the Washington Post Pelosi wrote an in-depth article discussing all the wrongs of China, and she stated America’s continued support of Taiwan due to our similar ideals. Yet, this assertion goes against the United States well-established one-China policy. The Biden administration has already advocated the maintenance of the status quo where Taiwan and China are not on combative terms. Pelosi’s stunt has resulted in increased tensions between the United States and China, as well as China increasing its hostility towards Taiwan. 

The White House is trying to prevent China from joining Russia’s “Scorched earth war with Ukraine” and part of that is reliant on maintaining good terms with China (Abutaleb). This too has been thrown to the wind by Pelosi’s stunt. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that Pelosi’s visit has been “seriously interfering in China's internal affairs, seriously undermining China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, seriously trampling on the one-China principle, and seriously threatening the peace and stability across Taiwan Strait”(Abutaleb). This statement reflects the depth of Chinese anger at such a stunt. The white house speaker John Kirby added that the resulting turmoil created by Pelosi’s visit is “at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability and across the Taiwan Strait.”(Knickmeyer et al). Overall it seems no one save the Congresswoman herself is pleased with the visit and the resulting fallout.

Written by Alexis Walker

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