Former Secretary of State for Donald Trump Mike Pompeo is offering his full support for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan.
.@SpeakerPelosi. Nancy, I'll go with you. I'm banned in China, but not freedom-loving Taiwan. See you there!
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) July 24, 2022
And Trump’s former Defense Secretary Mike Esper told CNN: “I think if the speaker wants to go, she should go.”
The support for Pelosi’s Taiwan trip has crossed party lines and presents a huge problem for both the Communist Chinese and the Biden administration. If Chinese President Xi Jinping was counting on a partisan divide in America to help him intimidate Biden into forcing Pelosi to cancel her trip, he badly miscalculated.
Related: Biden Says Pelosi’s Trip to Taiwan Next Month Is ‘Not a Good Idea Right Now’
And Biden, trying to keep a lid on tensions in Asia by warning off Pelosi from going, will now have to reckon with the real possibility of some kind of military response from China if Pelosi’s military plane touches down in Taiwan.
Bonnie Glaser, the German Marshall Fund’s Asia Program director, says “We’re approaching a crisis.”
The main reason, she and other experts noted, is that Chinese leader Xi Jinping needs to convey strength ahead of the 20th Communist Party Congress later this year. Any perceived weakening of the “One China” policy or clarification of “strategic ambiguity” toward America’s defense of Taiwan could hurt him and empower those who want to rein in his influence. “It’s a sensitive time for Xi,” Glaser said.
Should Pelosi decide to fly to Taiwan, the expert consensus is she should do so after the important meeting of party chiefs. If the speaker goes before that, there’s a chance Xi does something rash — perhaps a large “training mission” of warplanes and warships pushing deep into Taiwanese aerial and maritime domains.
Pelosi’s visit wouldn’t take place in a vacuum. China’s military build-up in the region is alarming the Pentagon and many experts say that the increasing aggressiveness of the Chinese military is a sign of dangerous times ahead.
The Chinese military has become significantly more aggressive and dangerous over the past five years, the United States’ top military officer said during a trip to the Indo-Pacific that included a stop in Indonesia.
Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said on Sunday that the number of intercepts by Chinese aircraft and ships in the Pacific region with US and other partner forces had increased significantly over that time, and the number of unsafe interactions has risen by similar proportions.
“The message is the Chinese military, in the air and at sea, have become significantly more and noticeably more aggressive in this particular region,” said Milley, who recently asked his staff to compile details about interactions between China and the US and others in the region.
If Xi wants to start World War III over one American plane carrying one American official, I daresay that Communist Party leadership will have him arrested and thrown in prison.
It may not be the best idea for Pelosi to go at this point in time. But it’s now become a question of whether the United States can allow an enemy to dictate where our officials can travel and when. Ignoring the threats from Beijing is the preferred course of action, and Pelosi should announce plans for an immediate departure.
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