The veiled threat came as Ms. Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives and one of the top Democrats in Washington, declined to confirm her itinerary in a statement issued after her first stop in Hawaii by her six-member delegation in Congress. Hu Xijin, a prominent Chinese commentator, warned on Friday that the air force was prepared to “violently chase” Ms Pelosi’s plane and any accompanying US fighter jets – and shoot them down if necessary. On Sunday, Ms Pelosi, who is leading a six-member delegation on a tour of US allies in the western Pacific, issued a carefully worded statement in which she said her party would include visits to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan . But he refused to rule out a stop in Taiwan, a self-governing island of 23 million people over which Beijing claims sovereignty. Should she go ahead with the trip, as the Washington Post predicted on Friday, she would be the most senior American politician to visit Taiwan since Newt Gingrich in 1997.
“Not a good idea right now”
Joe Biden expressed concern about the trip, saying the US military didn’t think “it was a good idea at this time.” The US president was understandably left in little doubt about Taiwan’s sensitivity during his two-and-a-half-hour conversation with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday. There were reports that his administration was working behind the scenes to prevent Ms. Pelosi from including a stop on Taiwan. On Friday, Donald Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social. “The chaos in China is the last thing he should be involved in – it will only make it worse,” he wrote. “Everything he touches turns into chaos, disruption and…” But Ms. Pelosi has the support of some Republicans, including Steve Chabot, the head of the congressional Taiwan caucus, who urged the US to show solidarity with Taiwan and not “squeeze” Beijing.
Download only a matter of time
The row over the trip comes amid rising tensions between Beijing and Washington over Taiwan. William Burns, the director of the CIA, said in July that he believed a Chinese attempt to take the island by force was only a matter of time. Observers expect a strong rattling of swords, possibly a military show of force, if Ms. Pelosi continues the trip and meets Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan. In 2020, 19 Chinese Air Force jets crossed the sensitive middle of the Taiwan Strait when Alex Azar, then US health chief, visited the island in 2020. China briefly flew a fighter jet over the Taiwanese side of the shared strait – just 100 miles wide at its narrowest point – shortly before Mr Azar met with Ms Tsai. A more aggressive escalation would see Chinese missiles launch into the Taiwan Straits. That’s “my worst-case-scenario prediction,” said one former U.S. security official. An invasion is currently “not even in the realm of possibility.” Beijing is likely to be wary of doing anything that would prompt the US to step up its response as well, he said.
