OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The Communist Chinese government has been engaged in a full-court press against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visiting Taiwan as she prepared to embark on an Asian trip over the weekend.
And while government figures with China’s diplomatic corps have advised against the visit, the most threatening and bellicose remarks have come from quasi-official government media sources including the state-run Global Times.
For instance, a ‘media’ figure associated with the outlet has threatened to use military force against Pelosi if she dares to visit Taiwan, as reports Monday indicated that she will. Other remarks via state media have been attempts to convince Biden that Pelosi’s trip would create political problems for Democrats.
The Global Times advised Pelosi and Biden to resist “pressure” from Republicans, as “Chinese experts” confidently predicted that “if the U.S. eventually let the partisan struggle and internal politics hijack its strategic decision-making, it would definitely bring a new crisis to the Taiwan Straits.”
The Global Times and its “Chinese experts” claimed:
China is telling the U.S. loud and clear where the bilateral “guardrails” are, and the U.S. should keep its promise of not supporting Taiwan secessionism. If Washington doesn’t keep the bilateral ties away from the edge but instead, insists on crashing against the “guardrails,” the consequence will definitely be a deadly disaster.
“Republicans’ encouragements to Pelosi are more like setting a trap than real approval. If Pelosi eventually goes to the island and causes a military crisis that the U.S. can’t handle, Republicans can still criticize the Biden administration for the failure to handle a crisis,” one of those anonymous “experts” said.
Research fellow Lu Xiang of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said:
Biden wants to engage with the Chinese top leader to seek help for the relief of inflation pressure as well as for the management of the competition and differences between the two sides, but when Pelosi, the House speaker who is in the same party as the president, is likely to make an extreme provocation against China on the most sensitive Taiwan question, it’s very unlikely to be conducive to constructive and friendly talks, and the agenda of such an exchange would also be greatly impacted.
Last week, Hu Xijin, the former editor of the Global Times, threatened Pelosi and her plane directly if she chanced a visit to Taiwan, which Beijing considers nothing more than a renegade province belonging to the mainland.
“If US fighter jets escort Pelosi’s plane into Taiwan, it is invasion. The PLA has the right to forcibly dispel Pelosi’s plane and the US fighter jets, including firing warning shots and making tactical movement of obstruction. If ineffective, then shoot them down,” Hu said in a tweet that has since been removed by Twitter for violating the platform’s rules.
On Saturday he sent another ominous message.
“Where is Pelosi now, does anybody know? Some said that she will be going to Taiwan by a submarine instead, and others said that she has sneaked into Taiwan disguised as someone else, is that the case?” he wrote.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about the threat on Friday and gave an extremely tame response.
“An official who is associated with Chinese State media is suggesting that if Speaker Pelosi tries to go to Taiwan that her plane could be shot down,” Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy said. “Does the president have a response to that?”
“I know you’re asking specifically about the rhetoric that we’re hearing from China. But as it relates to the speaker’s travels, it’s something that we’re just not going to speak to. Right now, that’s a hypothetical. We’re just not going to speak on her schedule,” Jean-Pierre responded. “As we have said multiple times, we give advice and guidance to any members of Congress where they travel … But again, I’m not going to speak to a hypothetical.”
The unusually tame response to an official threat against the life of a high-ranking elected American official was ripped on social media.
