Pelosi's Taiwan Visit Will Be Torn Up by History as Wastepaper: Global Times Editorial

By Global Times

Aug 04, 2022 12:03 AM

Suicidal mission. Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

On Wednesday afternoon, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left China's Taiwan island and flew to South Korea. During her 19-hour stay in Taiwan, Pelosi and Tsai Ing-wen performed a "double act," each with her own hidden thoughts. Their remarks seemed like the same old lines they had rehearsed many times before. They flattered each other and seemed elated and inspired. This appeared to be not only bizarre but also ugly against the backdrop of the tensions in the Taiwan Straits.

To show her so-called strong support for the island, Pelosi declared that the US "stands with Taiwan." She probably wanted to impress the world as an 82-year-old people "offering support" to Taiwan despite the danger, a way to cover up the evil purpose of her visit. This reminds us of a common phenomenon in the international community in recent years: those some US politicians claim to stand with are going to be in trouble.

As the third highest-ranking US politician, Pelosi shamelessly declared that the US "will not abandon its commitment to Taiwan," a breach of Washington's serious political commitments to China. Where is US' national credibility? While Pelosi has been claiming her opposition to "unilateral efforts to change the status quo," she has taken the initiative to stir up trouble for her own political interests, recklessly inciting the "Taiwan independence" forces and even clamoring she hopes her trip will "pave the way for other visits by US lawmakers." How could this not change the status quo?

Moreover, Pelosi put on a posture that she is willing to work with Taiwan to "deal with external challenges," she was actually requesting the island's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority to pay tribute to her in a disguised form. She is hollowing out Taiwan while putting it on a powder keg. In a sense, Pelosi's visit to Taiwan is almost like chiseling.

Obviously, Pelosi's eyes are always on how many domestic political benefits this move will bring her. Tsai needs to show that she is flattered, but it is hard for her not to think about the price the DPP authority will pay after Pelosi returns to the US. This uneasiness and anxiety will not be relieved, but will continue to spread and intensify, eventually turning into the collective despair of the Taiwan independence forces in front of the general trend of cross-Straits reunification.

For Pelosi, who has little time left in her political career, this visit has greatly satisfied her vanity. She received the "honorable treatment" like an "empress dowager." When media outlets of pro-independence forces described Pelosi's choice of hotel, they even used the phrase "imperial choice." Moreover, see how obsequious Tsai was when meeting Pelosi, bowing and scraping. Setting aside the dirty deeds of Taiwan secessionists who turned into traitors for personal gains, their servility alone is enough to nail them to the pillar of shame in history.

Pelosi is a very typical politician in Washington, arrogant, paranoid and eager to put on a show. Many people probably still remember the scene where she publicly ripped up her copy of then president Trump's State of the Union address in 2020. She even declared in a showy manner that she tore it up because it was a "manifesto of untruths." How ironic. Her lies in Taipei will also be mercilessly ripped up by history.

In the long political career of Pelosi, such cases are not rare. She has mainly played the role as a nit-picker. In other words, she does not aspire to be constructive at all, or take the big picture into consideration. Such a figure, who turned a blind eye to opposition from all parties, peace and stability of the Taiwan Straits, insisted on going to the island to stage a clown show. The fact that such a small-minded person can even become the No.3 politician in Washington is quite shocking to people.

It's worth noting that this time many Republican politicians, such as Mike Pompeo and Marco Rubio incited vigorously and formed a bipartisan anti-China noise. This made the White House scruple, afraid of being criticized as being "soft on China," and indulged Pelosi's Taiwan visit. The China policy of the US has in fact been kidnapped by such a distorted atmosphere that pragmatism and rationality have to retreat significantly. Radical, arrogant and risky words and deeds have become unbridled.

What's ridiculous is that after indulging Pelosi's provocative trip, Washington requested China not to escalate countermeasures. What an arrogant and pathetic request. As Washington has fewer and fewer levers to suppress China, the Taiwan question is almost the sole issue it can use, which however is also in vain. Pelosi's visit has confirmed to the world that the US is the biggest destroyer of cross-Straits peace. Any countermeasure that China adopts is justified and necessary. This will objectively accelerate China's reunification process.

The series of military drills by the mainland to counter the escalation of US-Taiwan collusion will in fact form a temporary blockade of the Taiwan island. Some Taiwan secessionists have already started to calculate how many days can their natural gas last. Does Pelosi who bragged about "solidarity" while in Taiwan even care? Who would ever believe that there will be "good friends" to rescue them when "Taiwan independence" hit the dead end? They will only be abandoned as the pawns.