Songshan Airport in Taipei was the destination for the Democratic presidential candidate's plane as it made its way across Asia. The plane touched down at 22:42 local time.
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| [Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan] |
The duration of the wait is now finished. Despite warnings from China, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan on the evening of August 2, 2018. Songshan Airport in Taipei was the destination for the Air Force aircraft carrying the Democratic presidential candidate on her trip of Asia. The plane touched down at 10:42 p.m. local time. During the time when Nancy Pelosi was flying over Taiwan, Chinese state media broadcast an announcement stating that Chinese People's Liberation Army airplanes had flown across the Taiwan Strait.
Upon his arrival, the Speaker of the House was greeted by a message that was illuminated on the tallest building in Taiwan and the most iconic point in the capital, Taipei 101. The message, which read "Welcome Speaker Pelosi," was displayed on the building as it lit up to welcome Pelosi "I'd like to extend a warm welcome to you, Speaker Pelosi. Thank you. Taiwan adores the United States ", says the inscription in English on the wall of the structure that is located adjacent to the hotel where Nancy Pelosi is staying.
However, there was no shortage of voices raised in dissent. The opposition party's representatives, in particular those of the New Party that advocate unification with China, staged a demonstration in front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, where Pelosi is staying for one night, in opposition to the United States for the potential escalation of tensions in the Strait of Taiwan. Pelosi is staying at the Grand Hyatt Hotel for one night. The Chinese media has republished the movies and photographs that were previously shared on social networks in an effort to boost Beijing's stance. In point of fact, China has prohibited any civil aircraft from flying over the Taiwan Strait airspace.
The arrival of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan has ratcheted up tensions between China and the United States. It has also caused the official websites of President Tsai Ing-wen and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to go down, both of which have been experiencing technical difficulties throughout the day as a result of multiple hacker attacks coming from outside Taiwan.
The office of the speaker of the Pelosi Chamber published a statement on the significance of her travel to Taiwan as soon as she arrived, highlighting the importance of the visit. "The visit of our team to Taiwan is an honor that recognizes America's unshakable commitment to supporting Taiwan's flourishing democracy. Conversations with Taiwan's top officials allow us to restate our commitment to our alliance partner and achieve our mutual goals, which may include the development of a whole area. Free and open throughout the Indo-Pacific region ". Therefore, Pelosi restates the stance of the United States towards ties with China, but she stresses the need of making a decision between democracies and autocracies. The democratic leader draws a conclusion in her message by stating that "solidarity with Taiwan's 23 million citizens is more necessary now than it has ever been as the globe confronts the decision between tyranny and democracy."
The arrival of the speaker was met with an instant reaction from Beijing, which characterized the event as "a major infringement of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China." In response to the visit to Taiwan of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, Beijing made an announcement just a few minutes after Pelosi's arrival on the island that it would hold "important military exercises and organize air exercises" from August 4 through August 7 in six maritime areas (including three on the eastern side of the island) that surround Taiwan. These areas are located in the Taiwan Strait. In addition, the Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army announced that it will conduct joint military operations and exercises near Taiwan beginning this evening, August 2. As part of these drills, conventional missiles will be launched into the water to the east of the island, and long-range live shells will be fired into the Taiwan Strait.
As a result, Pelosi ascends to the position of highest-ranking American politician to go to Taiwan since that time. This was done by then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997, although China was not nearly as politically or militarily powerful as it is now 25 years ago. After spending three days in China, the Republican leader of Congress, who had visited China before when the Democrat Bill Clinton was in the White House, had stopped in Taiwan on his way back to the United States.
According to comments that Newt Gingrich made in a recent interview with Voice of America, Chinese authorities first opposed Gingrich's appearance on the island, but then took a step back when the Republican threatened to forego the trip to Beijing if he wasn't allowed to speak there. However, Beijing did insist on a compromise, which was that Gingrich could not have traveled straight to Taiwan from the Chinese mainland. After visiting Beijing and Shanghai, Newt Gingrich reportedly took a flight to Tokyo and then continued on to Taipei. This information comes from the previous Speaker of the House.
The policy that is now being implemented by Pelosi is far more controversial than the one that Gingrich witnessed 25 years ago. Tomorrow morning (August 3), the speaker of the House will have a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, and then she will go to the legislative Yuan, which is Taiwan's equivalent of the local parliament.
The response of China to Pelosi's visit is being keenly monitored at this time. In the days leading up to Nancy Pelosi's travel to Taipei, Beijing issued statements via Foreign Minister Wang Yi accusing the United States of "treason" about the Taiwan issue and claiming that the United States is "the biggest destroyer of today's peace."
Pelosi has been warned that China would respond with an undefined military action if she goes to Taiwan since China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory. During a phone chat with the President of the United States last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping assured President Joe Biden that he would "resolutely preserve China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity" and warned Biden that "anyone who plays with fire would be burnt."
There are no indications that China will launch a full-scale invasion of Taiwan at this time; however, Beijing could, as it has done in the past, respond to Pelosi's visit with large sorties into the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone or through the midline that divides the strait. This would be consistent with what Beijing has done in the past. Yesterday morning, a significant number of airplanes from the Chinese People's Liberation Army flew close to the midline. This occurred at the same time as Taiwan deployed military vessels in what has been described as a regular action.
The memory of the last significant crisis that occurred in the Taiwan Strait in 1995-1996, when China fired missiles into the water near the ports of Taiwan and the president at the time, is becoming more and more vivid as a result of the threats and maneuvers that China is making in the region. The then-President of the United States, Bill Clinton, sent two groups of aircraft carriers into the waterways that separated the island from the Chinese mainland.
In May of 2013, Vice President Joe Biden indicated that the United States would support Taiwan if it came under assault from China. This statement infuriated the Chinese government in Beijing. In a second moment, the White House took a step backward and defined the stance of the United States, stating that it intended to continue supplying weapons in line with the agreements that were reached. This happened after the first moment.
On the basis of the agreement that was reached in 1978 to normalize relations between China and the United States, Washington has actually agreed to recognize only Beijing as the seat of the Chinese government. At the same time, Washington has agreed to recognize — but not approve of — the Chinese position according to which China and Taiwan are both part of China. While the United States continues to provide Taiwan with cutting-edge weaponry and maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity regarding whether or not it would assist Taiwan in defending itself against a possible attack by China, it continues to advocate for the peaceful unification of Taiwan and China.
The outcome of an escalation that is inevitably going to become worse will be decided tomorrow, on August 3rd.