Headline RoundupAugust 3rd, 2022

Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan Trip: 'Courageous' or 'Reckless'?

Summary from the AllSides News Team

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taiwan on Wednesday after a visit that some called “courageous” and others called “utterly reckless.”

In response, China conducted military drills in the Taiwan Strait and imposed import limits on hundreds of Taiwanese products. Pelosi, who has long criticized China’s human rights record, waved off China’s military response, saying, “whatever China was going to do they'll do in their own good time.” The House speaker also suggested Chinese President Xi Jingping was “rattling his saber” because of potential “insecurities” about his “political situation.”

Perspectives on Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan cut across the usual partisan divides. Pelosi’s supporters included the Editors of the National Review (Right bias), who called the trip “courageous” and said Pelosi “grasps what China appeasers don’t.” Meanwhile, The Washington Post (Lean Left bias) Editorial Board called the visit “unwise,” not because Pelosi didn’t have an “obligation” to visit Taiwan, but because it was done at the wrong time.

Some outlets published perspectives from Taiwanese writers, who tended to argue that Chinese threats were not a cause for panic. The Taipei Times (Center bias) published an editorial praising “plucky Pelosi” and labeling “China’s propagandists” as “paper tigers” with empty threats. However, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (Center bias) criticized Pelosi’s “short-sighted” visit for purportedly making the region “a more dangerous place.”

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