Here is what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to say during her visit to Taiwan:
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan Tuesday evening, marking a significant show of support for Taiwan despite China’s threats of retaliation over the visit.
Pelosi’s stop in Taipei is the first time that a US House speaker has visited Taiwan in 25 years. Her trip comes at a low point in US-China relations and despite warnings from the Biden administration against a stop in Taiwan.
The California Democrat is leading a congressional delegation on a tour in Asia this week, which includes stops in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan. Although not included in her official itinerary, expectations that she was planning a visit to Taiwan have fuelled US-China tensions since reports of a potential trip emerged last month.
In a statement after landing, Pelosi and the congressional delegation that accompanied her said the visit “honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant democracy.
Pelosi, a forthright critic of Beijing, has previously said it is important for the US to show support for Taiwan.
CNN
Here is China’s response to the visit:
China has lashed out at the visit. In a statement following Pelosi’s arrival, China’s Foreign Ministry said the trip would have a “severe impact on the political foundation of China-US relations.”
“China will definitely take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity in response to the US Speaker’s visit,” the statement said.
A spokesman for China’s Ministry of Defense said the People’s Liberation Army was “on high alert” and would launch “a series of targeted military operations to counteract the situation, resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and resolutely thwart the interference of external forces and ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist schemes.”
You can read more at the link, but the Chinese military says it will conduct air and sea exercises and live fires in the Taiwan straight in response. Has there ever been a military more scared of a 82 year old woman?
This is making me wonder if Pelosi was going to land in Taiwan in secret and this official just blew her cover:
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to visit Taiwan as part of her tour of Asia,according to a senior Taiwanese government official and a US official, despite warnings from Biden administration officials, who are worried about China’s response to such a high-profile visit.
The stop — the first for a US House speaker in 25 years — is not currently on Pelosi’s public itinerary and comes at a time when US-China relations are already at a low point.
The Taiwanese official added that she is expected to stay in Taiwan overnight. It is unclear when exactly Pelosi will land in Taipei.
CNN
You can read more at the link.
It looks like the Chinese threats worked:
Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office released an itinerary for the House Speaker’s planned trip to Asia that listed at least four stops — but made no mention of Taiwan.
Reports that the California Democrat was planning to visit the contested, self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own had sparked anger and threats in China, where officials vowed to do what was necessary to “firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Pelosi on Sunday set off for the Indo-Pacific, where she is leading a delegation of five Democratic lawmakers focused on “mutual security, economic partnership and democratic governance” in the region, according to a news release from her office.
The delegation will visit Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, according to the release.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
That is what this Korea Times editorial is claiming:
National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang gave the wrong gift to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during his visitto the latter in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, with a group of lawmakers.
Korea Times
The gift in question was a scroll with Chinese calligraphy he presented in person. The photo of the occasion has been posted on media websites and carried in newspapers.
There are two problems ― the first being plain to see and the second more subtle and more damaging.
The first is “Dear Pelosi” written on the right side of the scroll. Missing isthe honorific “Madam” or job title “Speaker” or “Madam Speaker” ahead of her last name.
Addressing the speaker just as Pelosi is inappropriate at best and ignorant at worst.
Then, “Dear” looks misplaced because it is not a letter but a scroll. Then, it violates the usual rule of scroll writing that allows for the name of the writer with their pen name and stamp of their seal, not that of the recipient.
The second is the four Chinese characters writ large.
Chinese characters were used by the upper class to boast of their knowledge and show their superiority over the ordinary classes in the Joseon Kingdom, a tradition that has survived in pockets of society.
Moon and his aides should have remembered what happened after the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Mar-a-lago Hotel in Florida.
Trump quoted Xi as telling him that Korea belonged to China during their private walk. Trump’s lack of historical knowledge and resultant gullibility, most likely shared by much of the American public, is reinforced by Western society’s Sino -centric view of Asia.
It wouldn’t be a great exaggeration if Moon had helped strengthen such a Western belief with his Chinese gift. Of course, the chance is that Pelosi won’t be as single dimensional as Trump.
Then, the meaning of Moon’s favorite phrase is detrimental to Korea’s image _ the Yellow River of China flows through countless turns and twists but only heads east.
The speaker uses it to express his conviction that North Korea’s denuclearization and establishment of a peace structure will eventually be achieved despite many challenges.
But the history of the phrase is rather unsettling.
You can read more at the link, but the “Dear Pelosi” on the scroll really does stand out and just looks odd to be on there. Besides that does anyone really think Speaker Pelosi knows the difference between Chinese characters and Hangul? Does anyone even think she knows where the Yellow River flows and the significance of the phrase?
Plus she probably receives so many gifts that this one will probably just be stored away somewhere or given to someone. It seems to me the Korea Times is making more of this than they should.
I am sure the Kim regime would be willing to sell their ballistic missiles to just about anyone with the cash to buy them even Nancy Pelosi:
The U.S. House minority leader expressed concerns Thursday about the possibility of North Korea transferring missiles and related technology beyond its borders, saying Pyongyang’s missile test-firings could be a “roadshow” aimed at selling the weapons.
“I’m concerned about North Korea for many reasons. But one of them, in addition to most of what you have heard, is that North Korea could be a proliferator,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told reporters during a news conference.
“And all of these demonstrations of strength are really a roadshow for them to sell to a rogue nation or lone wolf, or whoever, some very dangerous technology,” she said.
Concerns about North Korean missile threats have spiked in the U.S. after the communist nation successfully carried out its first test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile that is now capable of striking Alaska and could be further developed to reach the U.S. mainland.
Pelosi said her concerns about the North’s proliferation deepened after a trip to the North many years ago.
“When we went to Pyongyang, and we talked about missiles, we talked about MIAs and POWs, we talked about home, we talked about a number of subjects. But about the missiles, because the development of missiles was a national security issue of concern,” Pelosi said.
“They said, ‘Look, we just make these to sell. You want to buy them? We’ll sell them to you,'” she said. [Yonhap]
