Nancy Pelosi Heads To Asia—But Itinerary Is Silent On Possible Taiwan Stop

Breaking Business Nancy Pelosi Heads To Asia—But Itinerary Is Silent On Possible Taiwan Stop Carlie Porterfield Forbes Staff I cover breaking news. New! Follow this author to improve your content experience. Got it! Jul 31, 2022, 11:14am EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.

) is leading a congressional delegation to Asia that will visit four different countries, her office confirmed Sunday morning, but her trip’s itinerary made no mention of reports that Pelosi is considering a stop in Taiwan, which has fueled tension between the U. S. and China.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. , speaks at a news conference on Friday. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press.

All rights reserved Key Facts Pelosi and five other Democratic lawmakers on Sunday set off to visit Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan “reaffirm America’s strong and unshakeable commitment to our allies and friends” in the Indo-Pacific region, she said in a statement . Pelosi is joined by Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks (N.

Y. ), Mark Takano (Calif. ), Rep.

Suzan DelBene (Wash. ), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill. ) and Rep.

Andy Kim (N. J. ).

It’s still unclear if the delegation will visit Taiwan, after reports that Pelosi planned to visit the island led China to threaten severe consequences and helped fuel a tense phone call between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping last week. Pelosi’s office did not immediately return a Forbes request for comment. Key Background Tensions over Taiwan have escalated in recent years, as China sends more military jets into Taiwan’s air defense zone and more forcefully expresses its desire to unify with Taiwan.

The U. S. does not officially recognize Taiwan’s independence from China, a fact Biden reminded Xi of during a Thursday phone call, according to readouts of the conversation.

The White House said Biden “ strongly opposes ” efforts to change the United States’ longtime ambiguous policy on Taiwan (while the U. S. doesn’t recognize the island’s independence and hasn’t committed to defending Taiwan against an invasion by mainland China, it does sell weapons to Taiwan and supports its right to send its own delegations to international bodies like the United Nations).

According to the Chinese readout of the conversation, the U. S must not support Taiwanese independence because “those who play with fire will perish by it. ” Some U.

S. lawmakers said they support Pelosi visiting Taiwan and favor rethinking American policy on China and the island. “I think it’s gotten to the point where China is such a threat to Taiwan where we need to revisit that policy,” said Rep.

Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who last week said Pelosi invited him on a trip to Taiwan that he had to turn down because of a previous commitment. Contra When asked about the possibility of Pelosi visiting Taiwan, Biden told reporters last week “the military thinks it’s not a good idea right now Further Reading China Warns U. S.

—Don’t ‘Play With Fire’ Over Taiwan—After Biden-Xi Call ( Forbes ) Follow me on Twitter . Send me a secure tip . Carlie Porterfield Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.