As Pelosi departs, Taiwan reflects on controversial US visit

Taipei, Taiwan – Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, has left Taiwan after concluding a whirlwind visit ... USSpeakeroftheHouseNancyPelosi,left,wavingbesideTaiwan'sPresidentTsaiIng-wenatthePresidentialOfficeinTaipeionAugust3,2022[Handout/TaiwanPresidentialOffice/AFP]By LiamGibsonPublishedOn3Aug20223Aug2022facebooktwitterwhatsappTaipei,Taiwan–NancyPelosi,thespeakeroftheUnitedStatesHouseofRepresentatives,hasleftTaiwanafterconcludingawhirlwindvisitthatrockedUS-Chinarelationsandsentshuddersthroughglobalmarkets. InresponsetoPelosi’svisit,Chinaannouncedlive-firemilitaryexercisesacrosssixzonesinwaterssurroundingtheislandofTaiwanthatwillstartonThursdayandcontinuethroughSunday. Taiwan’sMinistryofDefensehassaidChina’sunilateralactionisanattempttothreatenTaiwan’sportsandmetropolitanareas,butsomeresidentsareshruggingoffthethreat. “Whydidn’ttheystartthedrillswhileshe’sstillheretoday?”PeterWei,alocalofTaipei’sBeitouDistrict,toldAlJazeeraonWednesday. “IsChinaafraidofsomething?Afterallthebigthreateningtalk,theyclearlydon’twanttoencounteranyAmericanmilitaryunits,”hesaid. DespitetherisksofaChinesemilitaryresponse,Pelosi’svisithasexemplifiedthestrengthoftheUnitedStates’scommitmenttoTaiwanandcouldgenerategreaterinternationalsupportfortheislanddemocracy,accordingtoseveralexpertsinTaiwan’spoliticalcircles. “TheUSisshowingastrongcommitmenttoTaiwan,”JasonHsu,aformerlegislatorinTaiwanandseniorfellowatHarvardKennedySchool,toldAlJazeera. “AlthoughvisitsofmembersofUSgovernmentandCongresstoTaiwanarenotuncommon,tohavesomeoneofSpeakerPelosi’sstatusandstatureisindeedextraordinary,”Hsusaid. SpeakingtoTaiwan’sLegislativeYuanonWednesdaymorning,PelosidescribedTaiwanas“oneofthefreestsocietiesintheworld”. MeetingTaiwan’sPresidentTsaiIng-wen,PelosipraisedTsaiforcourageousleadershipandcalledforincreasedinter-parliamentarylinkagebetweentheUSandTaiwan. “Values-baseddiplomacyisvitalforTaiwan,”Hsuadded,notingthefocusthatPelosiandTsaiplacedonthisduringtheirmeeting. “Democracy,freedom,humanrights,andgenderequalityaresomeofthemostimportantvaluesthatmakeTaiwanstandoutintheworld.Bypractisingthesevalues,wearetryingtobeamodelfortheinternationalcommunityandcontributetouniversalgoodwill,”Hsusaid. ‘Wedon’twantanyone’ssympathy’ Yetthevisithascomeataprice. InresponsetoPelosi’sarrivalinTaiwan,Chinahaslaunchedaseriesofeconomicsalvos,banningTaiwanesefoodimportsandhaltingexportsofsandtotheself-governingisland. AskedbyreporterswhattangiblebenefitstheUScanofferTaiwantooffsettheeconomiccostofChina’snewsanctions,PelosipointedtotheCHIPSActthatpassedtheUSCongresslastmonth. Pelosisaidthebill,whichprovides$52bnininvestmentsubsidiesforUS-basedchipmakers,will“openthedoortobettereconomicexchanges”withTaiwanandwillfacilitatefurtherbilateralresearchandinvestmentinthecriticalsector. YetsomeTaiwaneseexpertshavesaidthat,inthisinstanceofChineseeconomicbullying,Taiwanshouldnotbeportrayedasahelplessvictimthatlacksitsownagency. “Wedon’twantanyone’ssympathy,”ChenKuan-ting,formerdeputyspokespersonforTaipeiCityGovernmentandCEOoftheTaiwanNextGenFoundationthink-tank,toldAlJazeera. “ItwasourowndecisiontowillinglyandwarmlywelcomeSpeakerPelosiandweknowwhatwearedoing.TaiwanisamiddlepowerandweunderstandtheconsequencesinvolvedwhenitcomestoChinesecoercion,”hesaid. “IftheUSwantstomakeituptoTaiwansomehow,thebestwaywouldbetoestablishmoreregionalmechanismswecanparticipateinsowecanjointlydeterChina’seconomicpressureandstrengthentradebetweenlike-mindedcountriesintheregion,”headded. “Wedon’tneedsympathybutwedoneedaction.TaiwanwantstojointheIndo-PacificEconomicFramework(IPEF),theComprehensiveandProgressiveAgreementforTrans-PacificPartnership(CPTPP),andotherregionalbodies.” TheIPEFistheBidenadministration’sflagshipeconomicplatformfortheregion.TaiwanwasnotinvitedtojoinwhentheinitiativewasannouncedinMayinwhatwasinterpretedbysomeasatacticalmovetomakethegroupmoreattractivetoASEAN(AssociationofSoutheastAsianNations)countries,whoavoidbeingseentoendorseTaiwan’sinternationalparticipation. SomecommentatorsanticipateTaiwanmayhaveachancetojoinatalaterstage. ‘PivottoAsia’ “IthinkPelosi’svisitwillgosomewaytohelpingTaiwangetintotheUS-ledIPEF,”saidSherlockChing,adoctoralcandidateresearchingcross-straitrelationsatNationalTaiwanUniversity. “YetTaiwancannotstandstill.ItnowneedstothinkabouthowtodecreaseitsrelianceontheChinesemarketandreachnewmarketsbywayofestablishingstrongerrelationswiththeUS.” AfterdepartingTaiwan,PelosiisscheduledtomeetSouthKoreanleadersinSeoulbeforegoingontomeetherJapanesecounterpartsinTokyo. “Pelosi’svisittoTaiwansendsaclearmessagetoJapanandSouthKoreatoo,”saidChenofTaiwanNextGenFoundation. “Icantellyouthatleadersinthosecountriesarewatchingclosely,”Chensaid. “Wewillseeachainreactionacrosstheregion.BeforetheUS‘pivottoAsia’wasnoteffectivebutitisfindingnewimpetusthroughafocusoncollectivesecurity.” ThevisitmayalsoleadTaiwanesepeopletofeelmoresecureabouttheUS’scommitmenttotheisland. SurveysconductedafterRussiainvadedUkraineinFebruaryshowedaboutathirdofTaiwaneserespondentsbelievedtheUSwouldsupportTaiwanifittoowasattacked.ResearchpublishedbytheWashingtonPostsuggestshigh-profilecongressionalvisitstoTaiwannotonlysignificantlyreassuretheTaiwanesepublicofAmericansupport,butalsoincreaseconfidenceinitsownmilitarycapacity. “Pelosi’svisitwilldefinitelyboostTaiwanesetrustinAmericaonsecurityissuesandstrengthenTaiwan’sresolve,”Chensaid. “ShewasthreatenedbyChinaandundertremendouspressuretocancelhertrip,andyetshestillcame.Thatwillmakeagreaterimpact”hesaid. ForPeterWeiofTaipei’sBeitouDistrict,Taiwan’sfocusmustremainonenhancingitscapacitytodefenditself. “Attheendoftheday,theUSistoofaraway,”hesaid. “Taiwanneedstorelyonitselfforitsowndefence.” Source:AlJazeera