Nancy Pokes the Dragon

[Kamaji]

Nancy Pelosi leaves Taipei after enraging China by accusing it of 'standing in the way of Taiwan' and insisting US has 'ironclad commitment to preserve democracy' - as Beijing's military surrounds island for wargames

By NATASHA ANDERSON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM  and RACHAEL BUNYAN FOR MAILONLINE
2 August 2022 | UPDATED: 3 August 2022

Nancy Pelosi has boarded her US Air Force jet in Taipei and left Taiwan following a historic visit that enraged China and escalated tensions between Beijing and Washington.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives and five other members of Congress are now heading to South Korea, the next stop on an Asia tour that also includes Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.

Earlier today, Pelosi accused China of 'standing in the way' of Taiwan's participation in international affairs and cautioned that America's commitment to preserving democracy 'remains ironclad' during a question-and-answer session with reporters Wednesday in Taiwan.

Pelosi, the first woman speaker of the US House of Representatives, also met with Taiwan's female president Tsai Ing-wen - telling her that the controversial visit shows the US 'will not abandon its commitment' to the island.

The Democrat specifically called out China, whose leaders warned the trip was pushing Taiwan into a 'disastrous abyss,' by telling reporters: 'They didn't say anything when the men came.'

Her remark referred to the surprise one-day visit made by bipartisan congressional delegation in April 2021. The group included Senators Lindsey Graham, Bob Menendez, Richard Burr, Ben Sasse and Rob Portman, as well as Rep. Ronny Jackson.

China furiously condemned the visit as Pelosi hailed self-ruled Taiwan as 'one of the freest societies in the world' in her speech to the parliament in Taipei.

Beijing demonstrated its anger with Pelosi's presence on the island - that it says is part of China - with a burst of military activity in the surrounding waters, by summoning the US ambassador in Beijing and announcing the suspension of several agricultural imports from Taiwan.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11075237/Nancy-Pelosi-visits-Taiwans-parliament-Taipei-1st-day-trip-hotly-contested-island.html

[EdinVA]

The speaker of the house making diplomatic commitments?Nancy was going to retire before she decided to stay?
Resume building to take over the VP slot when bitme gets dumped?  Imminent?

Curioser and curiouser

[Kamaji]

The NY Post's take on the matter:


Pelosi leaves Taiwan after trip triggers biggest Beijing drills since ‘95

By Lee Brown
August 3, 2022

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taiwan Wednesday after a visit that inflamed US tensions with China — which is responding with its largest military drills in more than 25 years in what experts warned could be “seen as an act of war.”

The defiant 82-year-old California Democrat and her delegation flew out of Taipei after a roughly 19-hour visit that was the first by a House speaker in 25 years.

Pelosi’s trip had so enraged mainland China that the country’s most popular social media platform, Weibo, crashed for about 30 minutes, confirming it was overstretched as several hashtags racked up several billion views.

“This old she-devil, she actually dares to come!” popular blogger Xiaoyuantoutiao wrote, adding that they had gone to bed “so angry I could not sleep.”

*  *  *

Source:  https://nypost.com/2022/08/03/pelosi-leaves-taiwan-while-china-starts-huge-military-drills/

[Right_in_Virginia]

 


PELOSI: "When I was a little girl, I was told at the beach if I dug a hole deep enough we would reach China. So we've always felt a connection there."
(Video)

https://mobile.twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1555933251096690689