Although not officially part of Pelosi’s published itinerary, the House Speaker was highly expected to make a stop at Taiwan which China angrily opposed.

But did you know the top 10 facts about Nanci Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan? You don’t have to look further. Here we go:

(1) White House was not officially in support of her visit.

Pelosi, a democrat just like President Biden, did not see eye to eye with the White House on her planned detour in Taiwan. Asked whether he thought it was appropriate for Speaker Pelosi to visit Taiwan, President Biden responded that;

“Well, I think that the military thinks it’s not a good idea right now,” Biden said in response to a question about Pelosi’s reported trip. “But I don’t know what the status of it is.”

Technically, by US Constitution, the White House and Senate are two independent bodies. That is, the President of the United States cannot order the House Speaker around. But the question is, why should any country or China care about the political structure of the United States? To Communist China, they are all the same. The third most powerful person in the United States visited Taiwan and it is all that matters. And they have every reason to be concerned given their claim to Taiwan’s sovereignty.

(2) Pelosi’s visit was not the first time a US House Speaker had visited Taiwan, but the first in 25 years.

On 2nd April 1997, US House Speaker, Newt Gingrich, visited Taiwan. China, as expected, protested the visit which forced the Speaker to threaten skipping a visit to Beijing on his Asian tour. Subsequently, China struck a less hawkish tone yet with one condition – that the Speaker would not fly directly to Taipei from the Chinese mainland. This could be interpreted as flying between two different countries.

The Speaker was a Republican while the US President at that time, Bill Clinton, was a Democrat. So the President of the United States had less or no leverage over the House Speaker during that moment. And China wasn’t a Superpower then.

However, the story is different today. The House Speaker and President are both democrats and hence, the President could persuade Nancy Pelosi to abandon a stop at Taipei if he so desired. Besides, China is not only the world’s second biggest economy today but it has a relatively very powerful military with modernized navy. In brief, China is a Superpower now. The United States cannot just shove it off like in the 90’s.

On Tuesday, 2nd August 2022, after 25 years, another House Speaker of the US Senate, Nancy Pelosi, has mirrored this trip. This time, China is a more powerful force politically, economically and militarily. Simplify put, China is a Superpower now. Like Pelosi’s visit, Gingrich’s visit in 1997 was unannounced.

(3) Live-fire military drills were conducted before, during and after Pelosi’s visit

Chinese officials, including President Xi on a phone call with President Biden, warned that whoever plays with fire gets burned.

According to Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying on Wednesday, China’s response to Pelosi’s visit will be “resolute, forceful and effective”.

(4) Pelosi called Taiwan a country

One of the memorable and shocking lines of Speaker Pelosi’s speech was her claim that America “stands with Taiwan”. This statement  has rattled the nerves of social media fans as the statement suggests that the US has finally recognized Taiwan as a country, shelling off its recognition of the so-called one China policy.

Pelosi referred to Taiwan as a country in her submission, eliciting more rage from Beijing.

Pelosi had claimed that the purpose of her visit was “to show the world the success of the people of Taiwan, the courage to change their own country, to become more democratic.”

(5) China warned Pelosi not to travel to Taiwan yet she ignored the threats and possible risks.

When rumors of Pelosi’s possible stop at Taipei on her Asian trip which involved stops at Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan surfaced, the Chinese side began issuing a barrage of threats.

From Hua Chunying on Wednesday, the Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman,  China’s response to Pelosi’s visit will be “resolute, forceful and effective”.

The Chinese President Xi Jinping also warned President Joe Biden that “resolutely safeguarding China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the firm will of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people. Those who play with fire will perish by it.”

(6) China sanctions Taiwan following Pelosi’s visit.

China has slapped sanctions on Taiwan after Pelosi’s visit to the self-governed island. This comes at the backdrop that China herself had criticized the US that sanctions don’t resolve problems after a US-led sanctions were imposed on Russia after Russia invaded Ukraine.

i. Natural Sand ban

China’s commerce ministry suspended from Wednesday exports of natural sand – widely used for construction and in concrete – to Taiwan. The ministry claimed such actions were based on laws and regulations without giving further details.

ii. Fruit and Fish

The Chinese government has also halted imports of citrus fruit, chilled white striped hairtail and frozen horse mackerel from Taiwan effective from Wednesday. The Chinese government however attributed the suspension to pesticide residue found on citrus fruit, and it also claimed traces of the novel coronavirus were detected on the packaging of some frozen fish products in June. Could this just be a mere coincidence or a Nancy Pelosi-initiated sanctions?

There are other sanctions imposed by china on the self-ruled, democratic island.

(7) China announced “targeted military operations” after Nancy Pelosi’s visit

Russia announced a so-called Special Military Operations at the backyard of Ukraine before it launched a full invasion of the country. In the case of China, the wording was very unambiguous and quite scary too. China began what it called “targeted military operations” just after Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s departure. Who is the target then? Your guess is as right as mine.

China kicked into full gear what it called “targeted military operations” which saw Chinese ships encircling Taiwan.  A Whopping 27 Chinese planes entered Taiwan’s air defense zone after Pelosi’s visit.

(8) Chinese netizens called for Pelosi’s plane to be shot down.

To some Chinese netizens, it was a torn in the flesh to see Nancy Pelosi’s plane touch down at Songshan airport at Taipei. 

Some Chinese netizens wondered and advocated that the Chinese military should have prevented Pelosi’s plane from landing and forced it away.

“[The government] only chants slogans loudly while greatly disappointing the public with its actual actions,” wrote one Chinese on Sina Weibo.

Others even called for the Chinese military to shoot down Nancy Pelosi’s plane.

(9) Nancy Was awarded the “Order of the Propitious Clouds”

Nancy Pelosi was decorated with the the Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon by President Tsai Ingwen. 

The Order of Propitious Clouds is a civilian order of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The center of the medal features a picture of clouds, as a token of auspiciousness. This order was instituted in 1941 and classified into nine ranks. Both citizens of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and foreigners can be awarded the Order of Propitious Clouds.

(10) Pelosi’s visit was supported by both Democrats and Republicans

Nancy Pelosi’s visit was one of the rare cases that united the two major political factions of both sides of the aisle. Many Republicans threw their weight behind Pelosi claiming that backing down would be a demonstration of weakness in the face of an autocratic bully.

In Washington, many lawmakers believed China had gone feral and unreasonably assertive militarily.  

Although Washington affirmed that its commitment to the one China policy remained unchanged, it added it was opposed to any unilateral change of the status on either side. The US maintains what it calls *strategic ambiguity”, which means it’s not explicitly clear whether it’d militarily come into Taiwan’s aid should China invade.

However, in what many analysts claim was a dangerous escalation, in an interview in Japan, President Biden unequivocally claimed it was a sacred duty for the United States to intervene militarily should China invade Taiwan. 

America, a democracy, always stand United on foreign policies that seek to promote democracy or democratic values.

“Today, the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy.  America’s determination to preserve democracy here in Taiwan and around the world remains ironclad.”, read Nancy Pelosi.