Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, Wednesday morning, with a scheduled series of high-profile meetings setting the stage for further tensions with China.
After meeting with lawmakers, Ms. Pelosi met with Ms. Tsai at the presidential office in central Taipei. Departing from the secrecy ahead of the visit, the meeting between the two was broadcast live.
“Today the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy,” Ms. Pelosi said. “America’s determination to preserve democracy here in Taiwan and around the world remains ironclad.”
In what is likely to be considered an affront in China, Ms. Pelosi is also expected to hold discussions with a number of human rights leaders on Wednesday afternoon, before she departs.
The entire trip is taking place against the backdrop of increasingly heated warnings from China, which claims Taiwan as its territory. It has condemned the speaker’s visit in strong terms, responding with plans for military exercises near Taiwan.
While the planning for the trip was shrouded in secrecy, her time in Taiwan thus far has been characterized by more of a carnival atmosphere. She arrived to a live video feed, lit-up greetings on Taipei’s tallest building, and packs of supporters and protesters in front of her hotel.
The mood continued on Wednesday morning, when Ms. Pelosi arrived at Taiwan’s legislature with a police escort to meet with a handful of top Taiwanese lawmakers. On one side of the building, a group offering support held up banners welcoming her. On the other, a gathering of pro-China protesters held up signs calling her an “arsonist” and accusing her of interfering in China’s internal affairs.
The response from China has been grave. Shortly after her plane touched down in Taipei, the capital, Chinese diplomats declared that the visit “seriously undermines” China’s sovereignty and China-U.S. relations. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the Chinese Communist Party said any attempt to seek independence by Taiwan would be “shattered by the powerful force of the Chinese people.”
Beijing quickly imposed a series of punitive economic moves, including suspending exports of natural sand to Taiwan.
And China’s military announced live-fire drills in areas that appear to infringe on Taiwan’s territorial waters, with a state news agency warning ships and aircraft away for “safety reasons.”
The assertions and military posturing threatened to raise tensions even higher between the United States and China over Taiwan, a self-governed island democracy. In particular, the drills, which would impede on Taiwan’s definition of its own territorial waters, set up a new phase of brinkmanship akin to a crisis in 1995 and 1996, when Taiwan held its first democratic elections.
During her stay on the island, Ms. Pelosi is also scheduled to attend a banquet at Taipei Guest House, a historic government building used for diplomatic receptions, and visit the National Human Rights Museum, which holds documents about Taiwan’s history as a democracy.
During the morning’s meeting with Taiwan legislators, Ms. Pelosi praised Taiwan’s record in dealing with Covid-19, human rights, and climate issues, according to Lo Chih-cheng, a Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker who attended the meeting.
“Under China’s threats and warnings, her visit shows that the United States will not bow to China’s intimidation and has decided to stand with Taiwan,” he said. “She decided to stand with the allies of democracy.”
Some in Taiwan said they were concerned about what China might do after Ms. Pelosi leaves. The military exercises announced were set to take place largely from Thursday to Sunday.
Although analysts said the drills appeared to be a signaling exercise to project strength at home and abroad, they warned that an accidental encounter in the…
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