A war of words over Taiwan has broken out between former Australian prime minister Paul Keating and former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, after the prominent Democrat accused Keating of making a “stupid statement” about the nation.
Keating was quick to hit back yesterday, saying in a statement that Pelosi had “very nearly” sparked a military confrontation between the US and China over her “indulgent” 2022 visit to Taiwan.
The dispute began after the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) published an excerpt of an upcoming interview with Pelosi in which she rebuked Keating for describing Taiwan as “Chinese real estate.”
Photo: Screen grab from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Web site
“That’s ridiculous. It is not Chinese real estate and he should know that,” Pelosi told the ABC’s 7.30 program. “Taiwan is Taiwan and it is the people of Taiwan who have a democracy there. I think that that was a stupid statement.”
“I’ve no idea about Keating, but I think that it was a stupid statement to make, and I don’t know what his connection is to China that he would say such a thing. But it is really not in the security interest of the Asia-Pacific region for people to talk that way,” Pelosi said in the interview, which was aired in full yesterday evening.
Keating, who led Australia from 1991 to 1996 and has long said that Australia should not be drawn into a conflict over the future status of Taiwan, hit back at Pelosi and the ABC.
Keating’s statement focused on Pelosi’s remark that “it is not in the security interest of the Asia-Pacific region for people to talk that way.”
“This is from the former leader of the US House of Representatives who, in a recklessly indulgent visit to Taiwan in 2022, very nearly brought the United States and China to a military confrontation — for the first time since the Second World War,” Keating said. “In fact, Pelosi had to be warned by her president, Joe Biden, and with him, the Pentagon, of the military risks of her visit.”
Pelosi led a delegation to Taiwan in August 2022 to show support for Taiwan. It was the first visit to Taiwan by a speaker of the US House of Representatives in a quarter of a century.
Pelosi defended her trip by saying that the Chinese Communist Party “cannot prevent world leaders or anyone from traveling to Taiwan to pay respect to its flourishing democracy, to highlight its many successes and to reaffirm our commitment to continued collaboration.”
Beijing responded with four days of military drills, for the first time including test launches of ballistic missiles over Taipei.
Keating also said that the ABC had not presented Pelosi with the full picture of his stance.
“Obviously, in being asked a truncated question by 7.30, Nancy Pelosi would have been unaware that I had also said that Taiwan ‘will get resolved socially and politically over time,’ ie, between the two parties, without the need of confrontation or violence,” Keating said.
Keating said that he was representing “the national interests of Australia, not the national interests of the United States nor indeed, the interests of Taiwan.”
“The whole world recognizes as one country, China and Taiwan,” he said.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS