People Are Sick of China
Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and Beijing’s tantrum further proof that elite’s romance with China is in trouble
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defied communist authorities in Beijing and our own defense establishment to visit Taiwan, where she landed a few hours ago. She is the senior-most U.S. official to visit the country since Newt Gingrich traveled there as Speaker in 1997.
The move affirms the Taiwan Travel Act, passed by Congress without opposition in 2018, which called for more interaction of officials of the two democracies, both of which are targeted aggressively by China. Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dispatched his most important under secretary to Taiwan in 2020, but no cabinet official has visited since the Clinton administration. (Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, considered visiting, but the trip was killed by the many swamp critters who inhabited the Trump administration.)
This estrangement is nothing short of reckless: if, God forbid, we have to fight China, we will do so without any of the extensive political-military collaboration that usually occurs between allies.
The visit has been cast almost universally as a provocation against China, which asserts that Taiwan is part of China and frequently muses about invasion to “reunify.” America’s obsolete “one China” policy also pretends that Taiwan is a part of China, even though any American who visits both places would instantly grasp that they are different countries. The reality is that both Taiwan and the USA are free countries that Beijing would like to see go away. Furthermore, the USA has nothing to apologize for: it is China that sickened the world with COVID-19, has undertaken a radical military expansion, and conducts cultural, political, and economic warfare against the free world. Beijing should be apologizing.
Pelosi is set to meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in a few hours. Much will be made of the summit between two women leaders: Pelosi is the first woman Speaker of the House and Tsai is the first woman leader in Asia who wasn’t the spouse or relative of a previous leader. But the real implication, which is far greater, is that Americans of both parties are tired of bending over backward not to anger the easily-angered communist leaders in China.
As welcome as the show of support is for Taiwan and others who stand up to China, much more than symbolism is needed. Pelosi will be gone from Congress at year-end and neither party in Washington has been able to convert well wishes for Taiwan into concrete action that forces the executive branch seriously to deter war with China. As we have wasted trillions of dollars on failed wars and nation-building in backwaters of limited relevance to the USA, we have neglected our military posture in this economically critical region. The $53 billion we have blown so far on Ukraine could have gone a long way to fielding more submarines, stealth aircraft, drones, and surface ships in the Pacific. Instead, our Navy and Air Force have atrophied in the region even as China has built up its forces.
It’s time for our leaders to realize China is the greatest threat to America and prioritize a military buildup in the Pacific, even if it means withdrawal from Europe, Africa, and places like Syria. We have important and helpful allies: Taiwan pays cash for its weapons and Japan is considering nearly doubling its defense budget. We just need a coordinated allied plan to turn the tables on Beijing’s military, political, and economic aggression.
Simon & Whiton
Mark Simon is in Taiwan. In our latest episode, we discussed the Pelosi visit and mounting economic catastrophe in China. Brief excerpt below.
[00:15:30] Christian Whiton: It's amazing how defensive we are on this issue. First of all, why is the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and her group in the South China Sea, as opposed to the Gulf of Mexico or the Sea of Cortez or something like that?
Well, she’s out there because China is a problem and doing things like threatening world war over the visit of the Speaker of the House to Taiwan. So it's one of these instances where it seems like we let the Chinese set the tone of the debate, the rules of the debate.
What's the mood like over there in Taiwan? Are people digging bomb shelters or are they excited?
[00:17:21] Mark Simon: They're excited. I got a note from a friend who said, do you have any of the phone numbers of the old Apple Daily photographers and reporters, because we need to hire some people. So in other words, the media is ramping up. People are excited, she's coming. I wouldn't say it's Santa, but it's a sign that the United States is standing with them.
[It’s odd that the White House has led a campaign against this visit.] You have a Democratic president and a Democratic Speaker of the House. Hello, pick up the phone, say you got a problem. Okay. Do not let your minions from the NSC conduct a campaign against another branch of government. They really did. Look at all these stories. The FT, Bloomberg, the Washington Post, the New York Times. It’s all organized, nobody doubts it. I've had two or three people confirm it all came from the White House and from the NSC. Probably Mr. Kirby had a lot to do with it.
Attacking the Speaker of the House, attacking another branch. It's one thing if it's Cowboys and Indians with Republicans attacking Democrats and Democrats trying to take down a Republican White House. But this is really an institutional attack by unelected bureaucrats. It’s almost like Nixon's guys going crazy. When you look at these stories and then magically out of the blue, in the New York Times appears an article by two people who claim to be China hands. I mean, Taiwan's supposed friends, Bonnie Glaser and Zach Cooper sticking a knife in Taiwan in a prominent New York Time op-ed promoted heavily? Who arranged that? There's no way the New York Times goes, oh, I know we'll call Bonnie.
Great article just one minor point. The US "one China" does not acknowledge that Taiwan is part of China but rather that we recognize one government of China at a time. Seems odd now and is diplomatic double talk but at the time there were 2 competing governments claiming to rule Beijing.
How much of the $53 billion ends up in the pockets of corrupt Washington, DC politicians - including Joe Biden?