This post is about Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, visiting Taiwan this week. Here’s a NBC report, China begins live-fire military drills around Taiwan:
“On Wednesday evening, Pelosi and her delegation of House Democratic lawmakers departed Taiwan for South Korea, the fourth stop on a tour of Asia that also includes Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.”
“Pelosi, a longtime critic of China’s ruling Communist Party, was the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Taiwan in 25 years. Beijing, which claims the self-ruling democracy of 24 million people as its territory, viewed her visit as an infringement of its sovereignty.”
It’s bothered me a long time how so many Americans these days can’t leave their extreme, domestic partisanship at the door, when thinking about American foreign policy. Our foreign policy is about all of America, not just Republicans or just Democrats.
I am a huge critic of Pelosi, but the idea that her visiting Taiwan is going to “provoke” China into WWIII is so craven and weak a foreign policy position to stake out that I’m flabbergasted. China has been threatening Taiwan (and its other neighbors) for many years. China has been building up its military for decades. China has been threatening and working to undermine America for decades too.
China sensed indecision and WEAKNESS in the Biden White House, when there was no forthright statement that Pelosi can visit whatever country she chooses and does not have to consult Beijing for approval. Here’s a quote from Politico’s, How Biden bungled the Pelosi trip:
“Those arguments began when Biden cast public doubt on the wisdom of Pelosi’s Taiwan visit by suggesting that the Pentagon saw it as too risky. “The military thinks it’s not a good idea right now,” Biden said last month.”
If the top leaders at the Pentagon are so craven as to cower from China’s saber-rattling over a proposed Speaker of the House visit to Taiwan, one can only wonder what kind of weak, hand-wringing advice they’ll give the POTUS, if China does attack its neighbors? This is a pathetically weak reaction for American leaders to constantly worry about “poking the bear” (in regards to Russia) or quiver in fear about how China might react.
Pelosi (as do other officials in Congress), has every right to make foreign visits and shouldn’t have to run her itinerary past Communist Chinese officials to see if they’re okay with it.
Putin intended to try to rebuild the Soviet Eastern bloc for decades – that’s been his big dream, so his decision to invade Ukraine came after years of setting the stage for that. China has territorial expansionist dreams too and Taiwan has been a source of tensions for decades. Pelosi had nothing to do with any of that. And if China takes military action, it won’t be because of Pelosi’s visit, although assuredly a lot of Americans on the right, who hate Pelosi, and a lot of Americans on the left, who bow and scrape to China constantly, would likely blame her.
If Americans believe our elected officials need to get a green light from America’s adversaries, when deciding their foreign travel plans, to appease our adversaries, we are in a sad state. Weakness is more provocative than strength and failure to stand up to bullies anywhere, but especially on the world stage, will only encourage our adversaries toward more aggression.
What on earth happened to Americans having some spine? Reagan challenged all the naysayers with speaking out against the Soviet Union and never wavered. I wonder how so many people on the right became faint-of-heart, wilting, “oh my God, Pelosi is going to upset Communist China,” handwringers.
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