Pelosi’s Proposed Taiwan Trip Gains Bipartisan Support

The U.S. Congress rallies behind Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker. Despite warnings from China, lawmakers urge Nancy to travel to Taiwan.

This rare interparty conflict has been witnessed with President Joe Biden. He is concerned about the possibility of escalating tensions between China and its communist regime. Pelosi, the top congressional Democrat and the third in line to the presidency, would be the highest-ranking U.S. politician since 1997 to travel to the island of Taiwan, which China has claimed as its own in past decades.

Beijing threatened to impose “severe consequences” if she followed through with her plan.

The next day, Biden cast doubts on the visit. While Pelosi dodged questions about the trip by citing “a security concern .”

However, she stated at a press conference that “important” was to support Taiwan and suggested she thought Biden might be repeating military warnings.

“It is important that she leaves and that Biden has a backbone eventually,” Senator Rick Scott (R. Fla.), who heads the Senate Republican Campaign arm told Breitbart news .. Scott stated that the Biden Administration doesn’t understand how to build backbones. However, it is important to stand for allies.

‘Policy Crisis’

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) According to Cotton, “a major foreign-policy crisis” will occur if Washington does not respond to China’s threats by cancelling the visit.

“The Chinese communists might think that they have the power to threaten Taiwanese citizens into not going there. It might in fact incite them and tempt them to go for the jugular in Taiwan,” he told Fox News on July 26.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, a Republican who visited Taiwan in 1997, also called on Pelosi to visit Taiwan and ignore China’s threat.

“What is the Pentagon thinking when it publicly warns against Speaker Pelosi going to Taiwan?” he wrote in a Twitter post on July 24. Beijing should not believe that Taiwan can survive if we’re so scared by Chinese Communists. Timidity is dangerous .”

The Epoch Times reached out to the Department of Defense and White House for clarification but they did not respond immediately.

President Joe Biden listens during a virtual meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Nov. 15, 2021. (Susan Walsh/AP Photo)

House Armed Services Committee Chair Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said, “I just don’t think we can let China dictate to us where the Speaker of the House travels to.” In a July 25 appearance on CNN’s “At This Hour,” the Democrat criticized Beijing’s outrage, drawing a comparison with the Kremlin, both of which see “everything as provocative and threatening.”

Congressman Ro Kanna (D.Calif.), shared an identical view on CNN’s “Situation Room,” asserting that China could respond militarily .”

Pelosi had planned to visit Taiwan in April but postponed travel after contracting COVID-19. The top U.S. lawmaker has positioned herself as a vocal critic of China almost since the time she was sworn into Congress in 1987.

Some Democrats said that the timing of a Taiwan visit carries both geopolitical and economic risks. On Thursday, Biden and Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, held a telephone conference.

Reaction

A series of events in the future could be a catalyst for a Chinese reaction to Pelosi’s visit. One such event is the November convening of Chinese Communist Party Congress, where Xi plans to cement his power.

Earlier on July 25, Taipei staged air raid drills and the island’s military performed routine defense exercises amid rising tensions over the potential visit, although there was no direct link between those exercises and threats posed by Beijing should Pelosi make the trip.

China has dispatched hundreds of sorties in Taiwanese airspace since Biden took office 18 months ago. Washington has a legal obligation to protect the sovereignty of an island democracy and treat any threat against it as a matter of grave concern.

At his weekly news conference on July 26, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whose wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, was born in Taipei, said it’s “much more important” to make sure Taiwan is self-sufficient when it comes to potential threats from mainland China.

” We need to look at what type of military equipment they own. Is it the right one? McConnell stated that if they don’t, McConnell suggested working with them in order to ensure that their weapons are deterrent for the Chinese.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.