The significance of Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan has been minimized by US officials, who claim that China is overreacting. But from Beijing’s standpoint it’s a really big deal, as it exemplifies what they see as Washington’s erosion of the status quo that has existed for over four decades.
Pelosi, who is leading a congressional delegation on an Asian-Pacific trip this week, may spend a night in Taipei and meet Taiwan’s leader, Tsai Ing-wen, according to media reports. Beijing has repeatedly warned against the possibility of Pelosi visiting Taiwan, claiming that it will cause major damage to bilateral relations.
RT’s Caleb Maupin probed why the views of China and America are so different.
US officials immediately blamed China and argued that Pelosi wasn’t doing anything unusual.
“If the Speaker does decide to visit, and China tries to create some kind of crisis or otherwise escalate tensions, that would be entirely on Beijing,”Antony Blinken was the US Secretary-of State.
Chinese officials treat Pelosi’s possible stop in Taiwan as an affront to its sovereignty. Beijing views the Taiwanese island, which is self-governing since the Chinese civil war in the 1940s and has yet to peacefully integrate with China’s mainland, as part the nation of China.
The US has acknowledged that there is only ‘One China’ since the 1970s and switched its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but maintained informal ties with the island.
The White House has distanced itself from Pelosi’s travel plans, saying the speaker was free to take such decisions regardless of what the executive branch wants.
However, the Chinese government could see it as part of a larger hostile policy toward Beijing, Benjamin Chiao of the Paris School of Technology and Business told RT.
“US policy right now is playing with fire,”He said that it had been happening for the past two years. “has been doing everything up to the point of violating or clearly rejecting the One China policy.”
Chiao recently recalled Washington’s treatment of Taiwan as a sovereign country, and this is just one example. “invited Taiwan to the Summit of Democracies last year, which the Chinese side has repeatedly warned against.”
An analyst stated that Washington is forcing China to agree to trade deals as well as its position in the Russia-Ukraine dispute. However, he said, China has not given up and that the US had no choice but to continue its trade negotiations with Russia. “to escalate the matter further.”
Since the US increased its anti-China competition, Taipei’s diplomatic, financial, and military support has grown.
Joe Biden, the President of the United States, explicitly promised to use its military force to defend Taiwan in May. This was taken by China as an important escalation. A new US bill, which was introduced in Congress in June by critics of the One China policy, was also introduced.
“The United States is hollowing out and blurring up the ‘One China’ policy,”Qin Gang, China’s representative to UN Security Forum asserted this during an appearance at Aspen Security Forum last month. This principle is “the political foundation for China-US relations”And “the bedrock for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as well”He stressed.
US officials claim their commitment to the ‘One China’ policy is as strong as ever, but Beijing argues that American actions are tacitly encouraging Taiwan to declare its formal independence.
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