Chinese Hostility Worsens – Pelosi On Radar
(TargetLiberty.org) – On August 2, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) touched down in Taiwan, despite warnings from the Chinese government to skip the visit. The defiant legislator stayed on the island for about 19 hours before leaving, declaring the communist country’s fuss didn’t “really matter.” She accused the mainland’s president of saber-rattling and brushed off the threats of personal harm and live-round military exercises in Taiwan’s airspace as no big deal.
The sovereign territory took the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) a bit more seriously. Following Pelosi’s visit, the island’s defense ministry said China’s military intended to intimidate their “major ports and metropolitan areas.” Perhaps the bigger issue is that Taiwan officials didn’t ask the lawmaker to come, and Washington wasn’t crazy about the decision, either.
China's military announced that it will conduct a series of live-fire drills surrounding Taiwan from Thursday to Sunday.
The island's defence ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that the military exercises "intended to threaten our major ports and metropolitan areas." pic.twitter.com/qLiDV3eSnN
— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) August 3, 2022
The visit was the first from such a high-ranking official in a quarter century, and it’s still unclear why the California lawmaker insisted on adding the sovereign state to her itinerary. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, there’s been some worry that Beijing would follow suit and reclaim the island by force.
Still, the House Speaker felt the trip was necessary, saying America needs to help keep the sovereign space secure and applaud the island for its strides in running a successful democracy.
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