US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pledged ironclad support for Taiwan as she ended her visit to the island-nation on Wednesday. Pelosi who was in Taiwan for less than a day met Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen and the Taiwanese parliamentarians.
Delighted to host @SpeakerPelosi & the #US House delegation to #Taiwan along with leaders from our government & tech sector. Thank you for your principled support for closer bilateral ties founded on our shared values of democracy, freedom & respect for human rights. pic.twitter.com/68aJBJeiOo
— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) August 3, 2022
During her visit, she was awarded with Taiwan’s highest civilian honour – the Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon. Tsai Ing-wen draped a blue sash around Pelosi and pinned the award on her jacket.
Our delegation had the distinct privilege of meeting with the President of Taiwan @Iingwen today.
We discussed how America & Taiwan can deepen our economic ties, further strengthen our security partnership & defend our shared democratic values. pic.twitter.com/VL509UYK4x
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) August 3, 2022
During her visit, Pelosi said that the US remains committed to Taiwan and will not abandon it.
“Our delegation came to Taiwan to make it unequivocally clear we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan,” Pelosi was quoted as saying by news agency CNN. She said the US is proud of the enduring friendship between Washington and Taipei.
It was also my high honor to receive from President @iingwen of Taiwan the Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon: a symbol of our treasured friendship. Make no mistake: America remains unwavering in our commitment to the people of Taiwan– now & for decades to come. pic.twitter.com/yFcVQil4TT
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) August 3, 2022
Tsai Ing-wen also thanked Pelosi for her visit. Unfazed by Chinese threats and military drills, Tsai reiterated that Taiwan will defend its rights.
“Facing deliberately heightened military threats, Taiwan will not back down. We will firmly uphold our nation’s sovereignty and continue to hold the line of defence for democracy,” Tsai told reporters, according to CNN.
Pelosi also chose to tell China that they cannot prevent people from coming to Taiwan.
She said China has stood in the way of Taiwan participating and attending certain meetings but it will not stand in the way of people coming to Taiwan.
“We want Taiwan to always have freedom with security, and we’re not backing away from that,” the US House Speaker added.
China continues its military drills near the Taiwan Strait and has relocated its military assets in the South China Sea to send a strong message to Taiwan – that it is surrounded.
The visit by Pelosi is also a snub to Chinese president Xi Jinping who earlier warned US president Joe Biden against playing with fire.
Xi’s detractors within the Communist Party of China (CPC) will view this visit as an insult to the ‘eternal leader’ in front of the entire world.
China is using the war drills to show that if it wants to reunify Taiwan with the ‘motherland’ in future, it could do so through these tactics and also has effectively imposed an unofficial no-fly zone over Taiwan.
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