US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan on Tuesday and Wednesday last week was in the focus of the world’s attention from before she arrived until after she left.
Pelosi’s 19-hour visit made Taiwan-US relations even closer than before.
Angered by the trip, China retaliated with a range of economic and military actions against Taiwan, no longer hiding its “wolf warrior” ambitions. Although its measures were on the surface targeted against Taiwan, they were also aimed at sending domineering signals to every nation in the democratic camp.
The trip not only raised the nation’s profile to new heights, it also reminded all other democratic nations that they must stand united against the China threat. Appeasement will only make the aggressor more aggressive. Taiwan is the one targeted at the moment, but the same might happen to other democracies.
Pelosi originally planned to visit Taiwan in April, but her trip was postponed after she tested positive for COVID-19.
However, Pelosi is not a quitter. In May, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was in full swing, she made a surprise visit to Kyiv, where she conveyed the US’ determination to support Ukraine.
The dictatorial regimes in China and Russia are drawing closer together, and the democracies that they threaten the most are highly mindful of this trend. Pelosi’s trip also included stops in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, but the most important stop was her “stealthy” visit to Taiwan.
The US emphasizes the concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. A glance at a map of the region shows that the five countries Pelosi visited form an arc surrounding China’s coast, with Taiwan in a pivotal position, highlighting its strategic importance.
Despite China’s ranting and raving, the second in line to the US presidency visited all five countries as planned. When Pelosi left Taiwan, she stressed this point, saying: “While they [China] may prevent Taiwan from sending its leaders to global forums, they cannot prevent world leaders or anyone from traveling to Taiwan.”
Pelosi’s itinerary in Taiwan included carefully planned visits to some of the nation’s most important institutions. Her visit to the Legislative Yuan, where she met with governing and opposition party caucuses, demonstrated the pluralism of Taiwanese society. Her meeting and joint news conference with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the Presidential Office conveyed the message that Taiwan is a sovereign and independent democracy, as well as that she and Tsai are female leaders to be reckoned with.
Pelosi’s itinerary went beyond other foreign dignitaries’ previous visits to Taiwan by including the Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park in New Taipei City.
Since the days when the site was used to detain political prisoners, Taiwan has moved on from authoritarianism to democracy. The human rights advocates who accompanied Pelosi to the site have shifted their focus across the Taiwan Strait and are struggling against the dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Pelosi’s visit highlighted the stark difference between Taiwan and China in terms of human rights.
However, some pro-unification figures in Taiwan echoed the CCP, calling Pelosi’s visit “sneaky,” even though visits and exchanges between democratic countries are perfectly normal. In contrast, China’s warplanes and warships often pay uninvited visits by flying and sailing around Taiwan proper. Those are the real sneaky visits.
Pelosi foresaw China’s furious reaction and responded with care, releasing statements through her office’s Web site, Twitter, letters to US media and statements she made in Taiwan. The main point she made was that she visited Taiwan to confirm the US’ commitment to democracy.
This successful gambit in Taiwan-US diplomacy has demonstrated the Tsai administration’s strategic focus. Despite the government’s low-key handling of Pelosi’s visit, the international community has taken a positive view of Taiwan’s and the House speaker’s performance. There has been a rare atmosphere of cross-party support in Taiwan and the US. Only a few countries, such as North Korea, Syria and Russia, have sided with China.
With egg on its face, China has turned to the most primitive and violent means to put pressure on Taiwan. As well as holding extended military maneuvers, it has halted trade in certain products, imposed sanctions on entities that it said are linked to the Taiwan independence movement and arrested alleged Taiwan independence advocates in China. All those reckless moves have created a chilling effect that is designed to sow divisions between the Taiwanese public and the government.
US President Joe Biden’s administration pre-empted China’s provocations and complaints through preventive diplomacy. Foreign media reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken early last month told Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) that Pelosi might visit Taiwan.
China knew about Pelosi’s plan, but its embarrassment turned into anger when she followed through. Realizing that it would be difficult to counteract the US directly, China vented its anger on Taiwan after the House speaker had left, while also taking the opportunity to expand its military presence in the region.
Beijing’s drills involved encirclement of Taiwan, but if China does ever attack the nation, it would likely combine this strategy with counterintervention operations to block other countries from coming to Taipei’s assistance.
China’s drill zones encroached on Taiwan’s territorial waters and its warplanes crossed the Strait’s median line, intensifying “gray-zone” conflict and significantly compressing Taiwan’s strategic depth.
The drill zones also extended toward Japan’s westernmost islands, suggesting that the maneuvers were also directed at Tokyo. On Thursday last week, five ballistic missiles fired by China landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, prompting Tokyo to lodge a diplomatic protest.
Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan has raised Taiwan’s international profile to new heights while fully unmasking the brutish face of the Chinese government. Now the international community is as concerned as Taiwan about how to respond to China’s provocations.
Taiwan, the US and Japan cooperated on their naval and air defenses when preparing for Pelosi’s trip, which shows that Washington and Tokyo consider trouble for Taiwan as being trouble for the whole region. Consequently, China’s drills were a test of Taiwan’s and other democratic countries’ ability to counter any action taken by Beijing.
China also launched several cognitive warfare attacks against Taiwan, as well as a steady stream of disinformation. For example, online rumors about flight cancelations and tank deployments caused uneasiness among Taiwanese.
Anti-Pelosi messages in simplified Chinese characters on video screens in convenience stores and at railway stations, as well as cyberattacks on the Web sites of the Presidential Office and the Ministry of National Defense, were part of the information war.
Pelosi called Taiwan an “island of resilience,” but in the face of rapidly increasing threats from China, its resilience is continually being tested. Taiwanese must continue thinking about how they can further refine and bolster Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, unite as a nation and calmly face whatever threats might lie ahead.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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