82-year-old Nancy Pelosi has defied and ignored the threats of retaliation from China and is believed to have landed on the island of Taiwan as she continues her tour of allied nations in Asia.
The House Speaker, who departed the United States amidst questions of her husband’s investments into the computer chip company Nvidia as Congress moved closer to passing subsidies worth tens of billions of dollars on semiconductor producers in the U.S., is the first House Speaker to go to Taiwan since Newt Gingrich 25 years ago.
Joe Biden was quoted as saying that the Pentagon was against Pelosi making this trip, and China’s President Xi Jinping did not mince words when he was on the phone with Biden last week, warning the Big Guy not to “play with fire” in regards to Taiwan.
Apparently, Nancy likes to play with fire and was not moved by Xi’s additional threat that “those who play with fire will perish by it. It is hoped that the US will be clear-eyed about this.”
Time will tell what the next move by the Chinese will be. The USS Ronald Reagan is positioned near Taiwan after leaving a port in Singapore.
Here’s a statement by Pelosi regarding her headline-grabbing move.
“Our discussions with Taiwan leadership will focus on reaffirming our support for our partner and on promoting our shared interests, including advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region. America’s solidarity with the 23 million people of Taiwan is more important today than ever, as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy.”
Again, China warned that the Chinese military “won’t sit idly by” if it feels their sovereignty and territorial integrity are being threatened.
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