Why the Pentagon Fears for Nancy Pelosi's Safety If She Visits Taiwan, as China Promises Strong Response
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White House and military officials are concerned about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visiting Taiwan, an international hotspot that's been a perennial concern for sensitive U.S.-China relations for decades.
If Pelosi, who is second in line for the presidency, follows through with her reported trip, she would be the highest-ranking official to visit the island since 1997 when her predecessor, Newt Gingrich, made it. Pelosi was supposed to lead a congressional delegation to Taiwan in April but postponed after testing positive for COVID-19.
Pelosi, 82, has not spoken publicly about a potential visit to Taiwan but sources familiar with her plans told CNN she intends to travel there with a bipartisan delegation in the coming weeks — despite heated rhetoric from China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will use force if necessary to annex the island.
"We have repeatedly made clear our firm opposition to Speaker Pelosi's potential visit to Taiwan. If the U.S. side insists on making the visit and challenges China's red line, it will be met with resolute countermeasures," China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijiang said Wednesday. "The U.S. must assume full responsibility for any serious consequence arising thereof."
China's Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday that Pelosi should cancel the trip or the country's military will "resolutely defend national sovereignty."
"China demands the U.S. take concrete actions to fulfill its commitment not to support 'Taiwan independence' and not to arrange for Pelosi to visit Taiwan," Ministry of Defense Spokesperson Tan Kefei said, according to CNN.
Not everyone thinks the trip is a bad idea. "Speaker Pelosi should go to Taiwan and President Biden should make it abundantly clear to [Chinese leader] Chairman [Xi Jinping] that there's not a damn thing the Chinese Communist Party can do about it," Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse said, CNN also reports. "No more feebleness and self-deterrence."
Anthony Wallace - Pool/Getty Images China's President Xi Jinping
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In Washington last week, Pentagon officials reportedly briefed Pelosi about Taiwan and heightened tensions in the region dominated by China, according to a CNN report, which notes that White House officials attended the meeting.
President Joe Biden said last week that the military considers Pelosi's trip "not a good idea right now."
"I think what the President was saying is that maybe the military was afraid of my plane of getting shot down or something like that," Pelosi said when asked about the president's comment. "I don't know exactly."
CNN reports that the administration is working behind the scenes to spell out the riskiness of Pelosi's proposed trip beyond the hard-to-fathom scenario of an attack on her plane.
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But Pentagon officials told the AP this week that such a trip would call for additional security than would be normally required, even for a U.S. official who's in the line of succession for the presidency.
This would mean an increase in movement of military forces and assets in the region. Fighter jets, ships, surveillance and other systems would likely be used to protect a U.S. delegation in flight and while it's on the ground in Taiwan, according to the AP.
U.S. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday that talk about a possible trip to Taiwan for Pelosi is premature.
"If there's a decision made that Speaker Pelosi or anyone else is going to travel and they asked for military support, we will do what is necessary to ensure a safe conduct of their visit," he said, the AP reports. "And I'll just leave it at that."
