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.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Center
Here's a Taiwan chill pill for your Pelosi-induced anxietyAs news of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's arrival in Taiwan has lit up the headlines, I've been hit by a virtual tidal wave of messages from well-meaning acquaintances in the West who are genuinely worried for my safety.
Meanwhile, the biggest drama in my Taiwanese family's group chat currently is how I missed my car's annual smog check appointment and how a cockroach infestation has sprung up in my Taipei bedroom while I've been away on vacation.
Sometimes I find myself toggling between two alternate realities -- one submerged in existential dread...
From the Right
Bravo, Speaker Nancy Pelosi: We must stand with TaiwanAt a time of global American retreat, it’s refreshing to see some real toughness in foreign policy: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan.
She landed on the island Tuesday, brushing aside a campaign of threats from Beijing (including calls from Xi Jinping to President Joe Biden and noise about shooting down her plane), Chinese plane movements against Taiwanese airspace and cyberattacks on key Taiwanese government websites and the country’s largest airport.
From the Left
Why Pelosi’s Visit to Taiwan Is Utterly RecklessI have a lot of respect for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But if she does go ahead with a visit to Taiwan this week, against President Biden’s wishes, she will be doing something that is utterly reckless, dangerous and irresponsible.
Nothing good will come of it. Taiwan will not be more secure or more prosperous as a result of this purely symbolic visit, and a lot of bad things could happen. These include a Chinese military response that could result in the U.S. being plunged into indirect conflicts with a...
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