Following Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Asia with a small Congressional delegation, President Biden expressed no further concern over the incident. During her trip into and out of Taiwan, she was heavily escorted by military jets with Naval ships within a reasonable distance.
Speaking with the press on August 8th at Dover Air Force Base, he said “I’m not worried, but I’m concerned that they’re moving as much as they are. But I don’t think they’re going to do anything more than they are.”
This comes hot off the heels of Chinese authorities’ decision to launch aggressive countermeasures to Pelosi’s arrival and subsequent time being spent in Taiwan. Aside from launching into a live fire exercise, they also issued messages of propaganda and announced their departure from US relations.
According to the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, their relationship militarily or with climate change was over. They considered Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan to be an act that “gravely undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” They have also announced sanctions on Pelosi and her family and kept the exercises going full force even after she has left.
Naturally, tensions between the US and China have been escalating for months. Back in April when she was originally supposed to take the trip to Asia, they warned her about the decision to visit Taiwan, and she was still planning it then. COVID ended up preventing that trip, and while many hoped she would stay out since the rhetoric had been ramped up about her visit, she still proceeded to visit with her guests.
Pelosi’s trip wasn’t as officially based as she wanted everyone to think it was. She and her husband have been taking advantage of insider information over the years and following a hefty investment with computer chip maker NVIDIA, she needed a visit. After all, she is going to vote about giving them billions of dollars to speed up the production of these chips. Naturally, she needs to ensure the US and her husband are making smart investments.
For better or worse, Pelosi followed Biden’s lead and waved off the Chinese threats and rhetoric. She wasn’t concerned about it on the way in and isn’t concerned now that she is out either. As always she isn’t worried because she isn’t responsible for the safety of those around her. That’s her detail of secret service and the military that surrounded her for the whole trip who are responsible for that.
Her voting record, her actions, her reputation, and her own words all prove one thing about Nancy Pelosi; that the only thing on earth she is truly worried about is Nancy Pelosi. These kinds of actions have consequences, and they can be incredibly severe. Yet she does not care. She knows she won’t ever have to deal with the fallout. Others will protect her and her family, so why worry about making their job harder?
Before, during, and after her visit, the White House has been firm on its public statements that Pelosi has every right to visit Taiwan. Meanwhile, flip-flopping about their feelings regarding the “One China” policy. Mysteriously enough they have been incredibly silent about their agreeance with Pelosi taking this trip in the first place. They did however make it incredibly clear that the escalation of tensions by China was unnecessary in their eyes, no matter what they think of Pelosi’s decision.
