On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that President Biden has not directly spoken to her about an official trip to Taiwan.
Although Biden did not directly warn Pelosi, he did comment on the potential trip on Wednesday. He mentioned that the Pentagon is attempting to discourage the visit to Taiwan, due to concern about facing backlash from China. Biden said:
“The military thinks it’s not a good idea right now … but I don’t know what the status of it is.”
Pelosi did not say whether the trip was officially happening or not:
“You never even hear me say if I’m going to London, because it is a security issue,” she said — while suggesting the Pentagon’s concern is that Beijing would attack her plane, rather than allow it to land in Taipei.
“I think what the president was saying is that maybe the military was afraid that our plane would get shot down, or something like that, by the Chinese ,,, I don’t know exactly. I didn’t see it. I didn’t hear it.”
Pelosi said Biden had not told her directly to cancel her Taiwan trip:
“You’re telling me and I heard it anecdotally … But I haven’t heard it from the president.”
It is worth noting that Pelosi’s scheduled trip to Taiwan caught the attention of Chinese leaders fairly quickly. Those leaders are warning of stiff repercussions if she goes through with the trip.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said:
“If the United States insists on having its own way, China will take strong measures in response to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity … All possible consequences that arise from this will completely be borne by the U.S. side.”
Zhao continued, saying a visit by Pelosi would:
“Severely undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, gravely impact the foundation of China-U.S. relations and send a seriously wrong signal to Taiwan independence forces,”
Pelosi emphasized the importance of demonstrating the U.S. backing of Taiwan while downplaying the significance of her visit. Pelosi said, according to The Hill:
“I think that it’s important for us to show support for Taiwan … I also think that we have — none of us has ever said we’re for independence when it comes to Taiwan. That’s up to Taiwan to decide.”
The Hill noted that if the trip officially takes place, it would be the first time a House Speaker has visited there since 1997, when then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) made the trip to Taiwan.
Americans should stand united against China, despite political differences.