As Nancy Pelosi meets with President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei, China’s People’s Liberation Army prepares for several military exercises and a encirclement of the island. These are likely to be just the beginning of weeks of retaliatory action.
Nancy Pelosi and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen during their meeting in Taipei Wednesday morning.
When Nancy Pelosi met Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday morning, her speech was brimming with pathos: “Today the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy,” said the 82-year-old speaker of the American House of Representatives. Her appearance in Taipei – side by side with the rather matter-of-fact and modest-looking Tsai – was not only intended to signal the “iron” and “bipartisan” support of the USA towards the democratically governed island state. He also sent the message out into the world that two top female politicians are bravely defying the Chinese threat.