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Opinion | As the US stokes geopolitical flames with Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, China must be the bigger person
- While on the US side, the timing of the trip suggests an attempt to distract voters from troubles at home, for Beijing it comes as a provocation amid already-high tensions
- The temptation for Beijing will be to speed up cross-strait unification, but the world needs at least one global power to show restraint
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As the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party prepare to gather in the seaside resort of Beidaihe for their annual summer summit, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went ahead with her controversial visit to Taiwan, leaving on Wednesday.
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With a strong likelihood that the Democrats will lose their House majority in November’s midterm elections, Pelosi is taking one last trip to the region. It is possible she hopes it will allow her to remain as Speaker.
The Speaker of the House does not have authority to conduct US foreign policy. Moreover, it is hard to imagine that Pelosi could do more damage to America’s global standing than President Joe Biden has already done by following the advice of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Iran envoy Robert Malley and National Security official Maher Bitar, with regard to Yemen, Israel, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, and now China. But that doesn’t mean she will not contribute to the serial disasters.
Emboldened by the inanity of the Biden administration’s foreign policy, the People’s Liberation Army plans to conduct military exercises, effectively surrounding Taiwan for the next four days. Pelosi’s trip has been long on the cards, giving the PLA plenty of time to put a plan together.
The risk of a military misunderstanding appears to be significant. Or, more likely, the PLA has a more complex Sun-Tzu-style approach in mind that will throw into doubt the whole notion of the Taiwan Strait as an international seaway.
We are seeing a significant escalation of the “Wolf Warrior diplomacy” that has arisen in Beijing in the past half a decade following the unveiling of the Made in China 2025 policy. Covid-19 lockdowns have taken their toll on leaders’ ability to withstand uncertainty.
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America’s Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group and the USS Tripoli are now in the vicinity of Taiwan, while the PLA has deployed the aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong in preparation for the military drills.
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