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.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
RSS