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Did Pelosi Cancel Her Taiwan Visit After China's Show of Force?

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A Sunday morning statement from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi included no mention of visiting Taiwan.

The potential of a visit from Pelosi had been denounced repeatedly by China, which views Taiwan as a Chinese province with no right to have separate diplomatic relations.

Concurrent with its official denunciations of the trip, China said that on Saturday its military was conducting live-fire exercises in the Taiwan Strait, which separates China and Taiwan, according to Nikkei Asia.

Joanne Ou, a spokeswoman for Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said she had “no further information to share with the media at this moment, nor have any comments on this matter,” according to The Washington Post.

The website of the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore said that Pelosi would be attending a cocktail reception the group is hosting on Monday, according to The New York Times.

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Pelosi is leading a delegation of Democrats to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, according to the statement.

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“Today, our Congressional delegation travels to the Indo-Pacific to reaffirm America’s strong and unshakeable commitment to our allies and friends in the region,” Pelosi said in the release.

“In Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, our delegation will hold high-level meetings to discuss how we can further advance our shared interests and values, including peace and security, economic growth and trade, the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, human rights and democratic governance,” she said.

The delegation includes Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York, Mark Takano of California, Suzan DelBene of Washington, Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois and Andy Kim of New Jersey.

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A column by Wang Yunfei in the state-run Global Times that was published on Sunday suggested that a military response to any visit by Pelosi could include ballistic missile tests or flying Chinese fights over Taiwan.

Wang said China also could “establish a no-fly zone in the Taiwan Straits, prohibiting Pelosi’s plane from landing in Taiwan. Such a measure is pretty severe: It warns of the worst situation first; otherwise, the consequences will be at the U.S.’ own risk. “

Wang noted that Pelosi has not said she will visit Taiwan.

“But we should be vigilant that she may transit the island without official entry or pass over Taiwan without landing there or telephone or send a telegraph to Taiwan regional leaders when flying over the island. No matter which way she adopts, the Chinese mainland will still take related countermeasures. After all, any of them still challenges the one-China principle, and China will not sit idly by,” he wrote.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

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