The president of the American House of Representatives begins a trip to Asia on Monday. If she has not confirmed that she would go to Taipei, this hypothesis arouses the anger of Beijing which multiplies threats.
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Funny weekend where experts and geopolitics enthusiasts are trying to predict the next World War by following the journey of an American Boeing live. Will President of the House of Representatives in the United States, will stop in Taiwan during her trip to Asia this week? And if so, how will the Chinese soldiers react?
Beijing considers Taiwan, an independent island of 23 million inhabitants, as a rebellious province that should be regained. Saturday, July 30, China began military exercises with real ammunition in the Taiwan Strait.
For her part, Nancy Pelosi clarified the contours of her visit: she will go to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. “The trip will be devoted to mutual security, economic partnership and democratic governance,” said the press release from its team, published Sunday, July 31. But no mention of Taiwan, whose government has not reacted.
Not sure that she has given up: the project to go to Taiwan, revealed by the Financial Times on July 18, is particularly sensitive, so that Nancy Pelosi had so far avoided confirming it or ‘Invail, for security reasons.
Peijing seeks to isolate Taiwan by all means
China repeats its warnings: a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs promised “consequences”. Thursday, during a video conversation between the Chinese and American presidents, Xi Jinping warned Joe Biden: “Those who play with fire are likely to burn themselves to death.” The American president replied that the American position on Taiwan was Unchanged: “The United States firmly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo and call into question peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
The problem is that this status quo is ambiguous, and that it evolves over time. The situation of the “Republic of China”, an official name for Taiwan, is a bullshit of the nationalist flight on the island in 1949 after their defeat against the Communists of Mao Zedong. Most states officially only recognize Beijing, but maintain informal relations with Taipei. The visits of parliamentarians to parliamentarians are common, systematically arousing Chinese protests.
Nancy Pelosi would however be the first president of the Chamber to go to the island since 1997. Since then, China has experienced an exceptional rise in power, and today seeks to isolate Taiwan by all means. Xi Jinping regularly evokes the “reunification” project of the island with China, “by force if necessary”. For its part, the United States undertakes to provide Taiwan with the means to defend himself, but Joe Biden recently assured that the United States would intervene directly, thus clarifying “strategic ambiguity” maintained so far on this subject .
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