Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday. A visit seen with a very bad eye by China, which claims this democratic archipelago of 24 million inhabitants and seeks at all costs to isolate it. Beijing, which has already launched a series of military and economic reprisals.
Since his arrival, Nancy Pelosi seemed to play the appeasement card. She remained on the same line of defence, namely that this visit does not change the American position vis-à-vis Taiwan, recalling moreover that a similar visit had already took place in 1997reports our correspondent in Taiwan, Adrien Simore.
That said, Nancy Pelosi chained high-ranking visits this morning. First at the Taiwanese Parliament, a symbol of Taiwanese democracy, and a little later at the presidential palace where she met Tsai Ing-wen, the Taiwanese president. ” We have come to make it clear that we will not abandon Taiwan, thus launched Nancy Pelosi during this meeting. We come as friends, we thank you for your leadership, we want the world to recognize it. Our visits to Congress delegations have three objectives. The first is security, the security of our people, global security; the second is economy, to spread as much prosperity as possible; and the third is governance. »
Nancy Pelosi must now meet the president of TSMC, the world leader in semiconductors. Partnerships between the United States and Taiwan in this very strategic sector should be on the menu.
China increases pressure on Taiwan
For its part, China had announced severe military reprisals if this visit were to take place. And it has already launched a campaign of economic sanctions on Tuesday, but also cyberattacks on Taiwanese computers. Upon the arrival of Nancy Pelosi, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced a serious violation of American commitments vis-à-vis China, which seriously undermines regional peace and stability. The Chinese government strongly protested to the American ambassador summoned to Beijing, and warned of the “ very serious consequences “of an initiative deemed” extremely shocking “.
It begins. Beijing’s response to Nancy Pelosi’s visit is therefore to punish Taiwanese growers and farmers… https://t.co/4oGTFxgkeV
— Adrien Simorre (@AdrienSimorre) August 2, 2022
However, for the moment we remain below Chinese propaganda threats who were able to believe at one time in the possibility of direct military intervention. But the biggest is yet to come, so we have to be careful. The People’s Liberation Army will hold military exercises at sea and in the air around Taiwan from Thursday. Some of these exercises could even take place within Taiwanese territorial waters. The next few days will therefore be very tense around Taiwan. If China does enter Taiwanese territory, the military may be forced to open fire. According to Taiwanese military experts, however, the risk of a collision remains minimal.
The possible large-scale maneuvers are already arousing many reactions in the region. While South Korea calls for calm and dialogue, the Japanese government says it is concerned about the targeted military actions promised by Beijing. North Korea, for its part, supports China and denounces, through this visit, “ brazen interference ” the United States. The consequences of this visit are still difficult to measure.
►Also listen: Geopolitics – Taiwan, a strategic issue of the first order