She can't really not go now, can she?
The entire Asian trip, with an itinerary that includes such key Pacific rim allies as Japan and South Korea, was supposed to happen in April but got delayed due to COVID. And the rhetoric from China has been ratcheting up ever since the trip has been rescheduled. Hu Xijin, a prominent commentator for Global Times, has tweeted that shooting down Pelosi's plane is an option if her trip includes a stop in Taipei.
It's a done deal, as far as the Taiwanese government is concerned. She's expected to stay overnight.
The Biden administration is not so keen on the idea, of course, but it can't stop her. The three branches of our government are coequal.
tLots of seasoned observers of the world stage caution against it, and they have a point. It's a high-stakes gambit, for sure. It raises that age-old question of when and where, if at all, to make irreversible changes to the global balance of power.
China is not currently the only adversary rattling a saber in an alarming manner. Russia and North Korea are mentioning nuclear war as part of their rhetoric. Iran is enriching uranium to levels sufficient for nuclear breakout.
Consider, though, the viewpoint of Senator Ben Sasse, one of the last remaining persons of principle and depth in the U.S. government:
“Speaker Pelosi should go to Taiwan and President Biden should make it abundantly clear to Chairman Xi that there’s not a damn thing the Chinese Communist Party can do about it. No more feebleness and self-deterrence. This is very simple: Taiwan is an ally and the Speaker of the House of Representatives should meet with the Taiwanese men and women who stare down the threat of Communist China.”
He has a point, too. If, at some point, the U.S. does not demonstrate leadership and loyalty to that portion of the world that shares our basic values, the bad guys run the place.
Op-ed writers, buy definition, are expected to offer conclusive opinions on matters such as this. Since this is a blog, I don't feel constrained in that way.
There are downsides to either choice that the House speaker makes. And she either will or she won't stop by Taiwan on her trip.
I just hope that American society can see now that the era of corporate joint ventures, student visas and supply chains heavily dependent on the People's Republic of China ought to be behind us. China only ever opened up to the West for its own advantage. It remains the snake in the grass it's been since 1949.
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