Nancy Pelosi Heads To Asia—But Itinerary Is Silent On Possible Taiwan Stop

Topline

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is leading a congressional delegation to Asia that will visit four different countries, her office confirmed Sunday morning, but her trip’s itinerary made no mention of reports that Pelosi is considering a stop in Taiwan, which has fueled tension between the U.S. and China.

Key Facts

Key Background

Tensions over Taiwan have escalated in recent years, as China sends more military jets into Taiwan’s air defense zone and more forcefully expresses its desire to unify with Taiwan. The U.S. does not officially recognize Taiwan’s independence from China, a fact Biden reminded Xi of during a Thursday phone call, according to readouts of the conversation. The White House said Biden “strongly opposes” efforts to change the United States’ longtime ambiguous policy on Taiwan (while the U.S. doesn’t recognize the island’s independence and hasn’t committed to defending Taiwan against an invasion by mainland China, it does sell weapons to Taiwan and supports its right to send its own delegations to international bodies like the United Nations). According to the Chinese readout of the conversation, the U.S must not support Taiwanese independence because “those who play with fire will perish by it.” Some U.S. lawmakers said they support Pelosi visiting Taiwan and favor rethinking American policy on China and the island. “I think it’s gotten to the point where China is such a threat to Taiwan where we need to revisit that policy,” said Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who last week said Pelosi invited him on a trip to Taiwan that he had to turn down because of a previous commitment.

Contra

When asked about the possibility of Pelosi visiting Taiwan, Biden told reporters last week “the military thinks it’s not a good idea right now

Further Reading

China Warns U.S.—Don’t ‘Play With Fire’ Over Taiwan—After Biden-Xi Call (Forbes)