Just when you think President Joe Biden couldn’t look any weaker, he does.
China has warned the United States that if Pelosi visits Taiwan, there could be a military response.
If Pelosi visits Taiwan, it would “seriously violate the one-China principle” and “seriously harm China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and seriously damage the political foundation of China-US relations,” Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Defense, said.
Biden has yet to respond or even issue a statement about the threat.
Everybody in Washington knows that this would never happen if Trump were still president.
“If the US insists on taking its own course, the Chinese military will never sit idly by, and it will definitely take strong actions to thwart any external force’s interference,” Tan added.
On July 21, 2022, Time Magazine reported that Biden said Pelosi should not visit.
“Well, I think that the military thinks it’s not a good idea right now,” Biden said in response to a question about Pelosi’s reported trip. “But I don’t know what the status of it is.”
The potential visit has created a rare and high-profile intraparty rift between Pelosi — a staunch defender of Taiwan and an outspoken critic of China’s human rights abuses — and Biden administration officials, who are wary about escalating tensions with the Asian superpower.
But it has also created some bipartisan unity on Capitol Hill.
“If I were the speaker, I’d be going,” said Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, who has served with Pelosi in Congress for more than two decades.
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., who previously served with Pelosi in the House, said: “If she wants to go, I certainly think she should go. And I think she should be more motivated to go now that she’s been discouraged, and colleagues should join her.”
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Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., a member of the Intelligence Committee, said, “The Chinese are not going to restrict the speaker of the House’s travel.”
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., a member of Pelosi’s leadership team, said, “Nobody should not go someplace because the Chinese government — which is guilty of genocide — is speaking in threatening terms.”
