Should Nancy Pelosi Visit Taiwan?

[Untitled]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-62386487

NYT is calling it reckless… but Newt Gingrich did it in the 90s and even some of Trump’s old cabinet have supported her….

[ichkeria]

China is currently moving lots of military hardware down to Fujian and at the port itself there are tanks rolling along the beach there

[Ellipsis]

> Communist China regards Taiwan as unfinished business, and has threaten ever since.

Yep, well, maybe the Communists should have finished the business before Taiwan managed to find itself some powerful allies. Like, say, if Hitler had finished the business of invading Britain before December 11, 1941, when our powerful ally, coincidentally(?) also the Americans, formally entered the European Theater of World War II.

[ichkeria]

And she’s there now

Well done her

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What is to be gained from provoking China?

[douglas9401]

Everybody sure it's not a typo for Tie Rack?

[ichkeria]

The idea isn’t to provoke China.
China provokes itself.

[Hopkirk]

Not going because China wouldn't like it smacks of appeasement.
That went well.

[Untitled]

And now China is thoroughly miffed...

is it worth it?

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re appeasement...

i think the 1930s would have played out very differently if Hitler had nuclear weapons... sad but that is the world that nukes created... it is now far more complicated to stand up to autocrats than it was before!!

[jno]

the US has long had special relationships with two countries (no, the UK isn't one of them) - Israel and to a lesser degree Taiwan. It regards these as lines in the sand. Taiwan hasn't actually been a problem for decades, but they've always known China wanted it back.

I'd hope the State Department knows the risks and thinks they're worth taking, even though they aren't directly Pelosi's bosses: it's in accord with long-standing policies.

[ichkeria]

We can all crawl under the mat or we we can stand up and be strong.
Your enemy is as string as you allow him to be.
China will throw a tantrum for a few days, then it’ll calm down.
Putin threatened or appeared to threaten nuclear war when he invaded Ukraine. If anyone “interfered”. We’ve been “interfering” ever since - far more than he probably imagined, and he has done nothing.

[ichkeria]

You just can’t resist can you jno

[ichkeria]

What has actually happened here is that an 82 year old woman who doesn’t even represent the White House, has popped in to a vibrant nation of 23 million people to offer moral support.
And China is very cross. The best thing you can say about Taiwan is that there were anti American protests too. That ironically is why Taiwan’s freedom is worth getting such support

[Untitled]

But with Putin the purpose was obvious... countering a war of aggression...

what does "stand up and be strong" mean? It doesn't seem very sensible... what has actually been gained by doing this?

i would much rather the USA used its influence rationally rather than use it to "look strong"

[gordiescotland1]

Now look at all the trouble it has caused, she was advised not to go. Why do women not just do what their told?

[jno]

[i]You just can’t resist can you[i]

??

[sandyRoe]

Is it altogether wise to poke a slumbering tiger with a stick?

[jno]

I think the point is that the tiger was waking up and starting to growl, after several decades when it really was slumbering and we let it be.