US-China relations peak after Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan

US-China relations are at their peak House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan,

Ms Pelosi was warmly welcomed in Taipei and hailed with strong bipartisan support in Washington despite the Biden administration’s skepticism. But his visit has angered Beijing and Chinese nationalists and will complicate already strained relations even after his departure.

China is already preparing new displays of force in the Taiwan Strait to make it clear that its claims are non-negotiable on the island, which it considers a renegade province. And, as the US moves forward with a demonstration of Taiwan’s support, arms sales and diplomatic lobbying, rising tensions have increased the risk of a military confrontation, intentional or not.

And the visit could worsen Washington’s already complicated relationship with Beijing as the two sides wrestle with differences over trade, the war in Ukraine, human rights and more.

The Biden administration, wary of China’s response, discouraged but did not deter Pelosi from visiting Taiwan. It has stressed to Beijing that the Speaker of the House is not a member of the executive branch and that his visit does not represent any change in America’s “one-China” policy.

For Beijing, it was a bit comforting. Ms Pelosi, who is second in line to the US presidency, was no ordinary visitor and was greeted almost like a head of state. Taiwan’s skyline lit up with messages of welcome, and it was met by the island’s biggest names, including its president, senior legislators and prominent rights activists.

Chinese officials were furious.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said after her departure, “What Ms Pelosi has done is certainly not the defense and maintenance of democracy, but a provocation and violation of China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

“MS. Pelosi’s dangerous provocation for purely personal political capital is an utterly ugly political farce,” Hua said. “China-US relations and regional peace and stability are being affected.” may have escalated tensions. It came ahead of this year’s Chinese Communist Party Congress, with President Xi Jinping using a tough line on Taiwan to blunt domestic criticism over COVID-19, the economy and other issues Will try to strengthen his power further.

US Ambassador Nicholas Burns, who was summoned to the State Department to listen to China’s complaints, insisted the visit was nothing but routine. According to the State Department, Burns said, “The United States will not move forward and stands ready to work with China to stop the escalation altogether.”

The White House also said that Ms Pelosi’s visit “will not change anything” about the US stance towards China and Taiwan. Press Secretary Carine Jean-Pierre said the US expected a harsh response from China, even as she called it unfair.

“We’re going to monitor, and we’ll manage what Beijing wants to do,” she said.

Worried about the prospect of a new geo-strategic conflict, while at the same time resisting the invasion of Western Russia with Ukraine, the US has mobilized allies to its side.

The foreign ministers of the Group of 7 Industrialized Democracies issued a statement on Wednesday that essentially called on China – by the initials of its formal name, the People’s Republic of China – to calm down.

“It is normal and routine for legislators from our countries to travel internationally,” the G-7 ministers said. “The increased response of the PRC risks escalating tensions and destabilizing the region. We call on the PRC not to unilaterally change the status quo in the region by force and to resolve cross-strait differences by peaceful means.”

Still, that status quo – long recognized as “strategic ambiguity” for the US and quiet but firm Chinese opposition to any presumption of Taiwan independence – is no longer valid for both sides.

“It is becoming harder and harder for both Beijing and Washington to agree on Taiwan,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, an emeritus professor at Hong Kong Baptist University.

In Taipei and the US Congress, steps are being taken to clarify the ambiguity that has defined US relations with Taiwan since the 1970s. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will soon consider a bill that would strengthen ties, require the executive branch to do more to bring Taiwan into the international system, and more determined steps to help protect the island. will be picked up.

Writing in The New York Times, committee chair Robert Menendez, D.N.J. condemned China’s response to Ms Pelosi’s visit.

“The threat from Beijing must result in determination in Taipei, Washington and the region as a whole,” he said. “There are many strategies to firmly counter China’s aggression,” he said. There is now a clear bipartisan congressional agreement on the importance of acting to provide the Taiwanese people with the kind of support they desperately need. ,

But China appears to be moving forward with steps that are expected to go ahead, including military exercises planned for this week and a steady increase in fighter jet flights in and near Taiwan’s self-declared air defense zone. can be proved.

“They are going to test Taiwanese and Americans,” said Mr Cabestan, the Hong Kong professor. He said the actions of US forces in the area, including naval forces led by the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, would be significant.

China declared a possible conflict weeks ago that the Strait of Taiwan, which separates the island from the mainland, is not international waters. The US rejected this and responded by sending more ships through it. Mr Cabestan said it showed “something had to be done on the part of the US to draw the red lines to prevent China from going too far.”

Meanwhile, Taiwan is on shore, air raid shelters have been prepared and the government is increasing training for recruits serving its required four months of military service – generally considered insufficient – as well as annual training for reservists. With two weeks annual refresher course.

Bonnie Glaser, China expert for the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund, said, “The Chinese feel that if they do not act, the United States will continue to cut the salute to take incremental action toward supporting Taiwan’s independence. ” ,

She said that domestic US support for Taiwan actually gives China an incentive to take a stronger stance: “China feels pressure to do more to signal that this is an issue that China cannot compromise on.” could.”

Despite immediate concerns about escalation and potential miscalculations, there are others who do not believe that the damage to US-China relations will be more long-lasting than other, non-Taiwan-related issues.

China is “going to create a big fuss and there will be military exercises and restrictions on imports of Taiwanese goods. And after the shouting ends, you will see a gradual easing,” said Jun Teufel Dreyer, a Chinese political expert at the University of Miami. he said.

“The situation is never completely normal, whatever is normal, but it will surely end,” she said.