House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a Democratic congressional delegation received a hero’s welcome in Taiwan on Tuesday as they followed through with a visit that brought condemnation and threats of a military response from China and could sever already strained relations between Washington and Beijing.
Upon the arrival of Pelosi (D-Calif.) in Taipei around 10:45 p.m. local time, she became the highest-ranking US elected official to travel to the island nation since then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997.
Pelosi was seen exiting the plane — known as SPAR19 — wearing a pink suit and white face mask to be greeted by Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and other Taiwanese and American officials.
Just minutes before the speaker landed in the island nation, the Taipei 101 skyscraper displayed a welcome message for all to see.
“Speaker Pelosi…Welcome to TW [Taiwan]…TW [heart emoji] US,” the message read.
Pelosi motorcaded from the airport to the Grand Hyatt hotel, where she was greeted by cheers from a watching crowd of hundreds who had waited outside the building — along with pro-China demonstrators carrying signs saying “Yankee Go Home,” as well as a phalanx of armed security.”
Footage posted to Twitter by Bloomberg’s Taipei bureau chief Samson Ellis showed more onlookers cheering the plane’s approach.
Reports had circulated for weeks that Pelosi would go to Taiwan as part of an Asian tour during the August House recess.
Her office had previously announced she would swing through Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan — but made no mention of Taiwan.
“Our congressional delegation’s visit to Taiwan honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant Democracy,” Pelosi said in a statement shortly after landing. “America’s solidarity with the 23 million people of Taiwan is more important today than ever, as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy.”
In a separate op-ed published by the Washington Post after her arrival, Pelosi called Taiwan “an island of resilience” that “is under threat” from China.
“As Russia wages its premeditated, illegal war against Ukraine, killing thousands of innocents — even children — it is essential that America and our allies make clear that we never give in to autocrats … By traveling to Taiwan, we honor our commitment to democracy: reaffirming that the freedoms of Taiwan — and all democracies — must be respected,” she wrote.
The visit frayed nerves on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. President Biden said July 20 that the US military believed a Pelosi trip to Taiwan was “not a good idea now.”
In Washington Tuesday afternoon, the White House kept Pelosi’s visit at arm’s length while both parties insisted the United States remains committed to its “one-China policy,” which recognizes Beijing but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.
“I’ll let the speaker speak for herself,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said of Pelosi’s statements. “Nothing has changed about our stance on Taiwan independence, which is that we do not support Taiwan independence. And nothing has changed … about our commitments and how seriously we take those commitments.”
In a rare moment of bipartisan solidarity, 25 Republican Senators joined Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in voicing their support for the trip Tuesday.
“I believe she has every right to go,” McConnell said in a Senate speech, “and it’s been unseemly and counterproductive for President Biden and his aides to have publicly sought to deter her from doing so.”
Soon after Pelosi’s arrival, China announced a series of military operations and drills, which followed promises of “resolute and strong measures” if Pelosi went through with her visit.
The People’s Liberation Army said the maneuvers would take place starting Tuesday night in the waters and skies near Taiwan and include the firing of long-range ammunition in the Taiwan Strait.
“This action is a solemn deterrent against the recent major escalation of the negative actions of the United States on the Taiwan issue, and a serious warning to the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces seeking ‘independence.’”
China’s official Xinhua News said the army planned to conduct live-fire drills from Aug. 4 to 7 across multiple locations. An image released by the news agency indicated that the drills were to take place in six different areas in the waters surrounding Taiwan.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Washington’s betrayal “on the Taiwan issue is bankrupting its national credibility.”
In a separate statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry publicly condemned the visit, saying in a statement it ” has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, and seriously infringes upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
” It gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for ‘Taiwan independence.’ China firmly opposes and sternly condemns this, and has made serious démarche and strong protest to the United States,” the ministry said.
“We would again remind leaders in Beijing that there’s nothing unprecedented about this trip,” Kirby said at the White House Tuesday. “There’s no violation of sovereignty. The speaker going is perfectly consistent with other members of Congress going, as I said, including this year.
“So there’s just no reason to amp this up. And we’re not going to participate in this … I’m not going to do saber rattling. We’re simply going to do what we have to do to make sure that her trip is safe and secure.”
Pelosi also brushed off the Chinese threats in her Tuesday statement, saying the visit “in no way contradicts longstanding United States policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, U.S.-China Joint Communiques and the Six Assurances.”
“The United States continued to oppose unilateral efforts to change the status quo,” she added.
US officials have said the American military will increase its movements in the Indo-Pacific region during Pelosi’s visit. The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group were in the Philippine Sea on Monday, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.
The Reagan, the cruiser USS Antietam and the destroyer USS Higgins left Singapore after a port visit and moved north to their home port in Japan. The carrier has an array of aircraft, including F/A-18 fighter jets and helicopters, on board as well as sophisticated radar systems and other weapons.
Pelosi has long challenged China on human rights, including traveling to Tiananmen Square in 1991, two years after China crushed a wave of democracy protests. In 2009, she hand-delivered a letter to then-President Hu Jintao calling for the release of political prisoners. She had sought to visit Taiwan’s island democracy in April of this year before testing positive for COVID-19.
China has been steadily ratcheting up diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan. China cut off all contact with Taiwan’s government in 2016 after President Tsai Ing-wen refused to endorse its claim that the island and mainland together make up a single Chinese nation, with the Communist regime in Beijing being the sole legitimate government.
Joining Pelosi on the Asian trip are Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York, Mark Takano of California, Suzan DelBene of Washington, Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois and Andy Kim of New Jersey.
With Post wires
