US House Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan is a dangerous provocation

By George Muntu

Despite China’s repeated warning, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and her congressional delegation arrived in Taiwan island aboard a US military aircraft on Tuesday evening to pay a visit.

Due to Pelosi’s outstanding position in the US political system, her visit has attracted worldwide attention. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement to condemn this visit immediately after Pelosi’s arrival in Taiwan, and the Chinese military forces have launched massive military drills around the island of Taiwan, including a long-range live fire drill in the Taiwan Straits and a live fire conventional missile drill to the east of the island.

And the The US Navy has sent four warships, including an aircraft carrier, to the east of Taiwan to ensure Nancy Pelosi’s safety. The security situation in the region has become extremely tense.

There is broad international consensus that Taiwan is not a country, but part of the People’s Republic of China. Until today, Taiwan is administered by the government of the Republic of China (ROC) established in 1911.

In December 1949, the ROC Armed Forces led by Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang were defeated in the Chinese Civil War, forcing the government of the ROC to relocate to Taiwan.

This allowed the Chinese Communist Party to declare the establishment of a new Chinese state, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in 1949.

Even after losing the war and fleeing to the island, Taiwan has still continued to identify itself as the Republic of China. But also, a number of countries continued to recognize Taiwan as China, while others recognized mainland China, the PRC, as the legitimate government of China.

In 1960s, many countries started switching their recognition of the ROC to the PRC due to the fact that the majority of the Chinese land and population were administered by the PRC.

In October 1971, the 26th session of UN General Assembly passed Resolution No. 2758 which repelled the Chiang Kai-shek’s representatives from the seats of the UN and all its affiliated agencies, and restored the legitimate seat of the PRC in the UN, recognizing the representative of the Government of the PRC as the sole legal representative of China in the UN, and the PRC as one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council.

From then on, China’s representation in the UN system has been thoroughly resolved.

On January 1, 1979, the US recognized the PRC as the sole legitimate government of China and established diplomatic relations with it. On the same day, the US withdrew its recognition of the ROC and terminated diplomatic relations with it.

It should be noted that in 1972, 1978 and 1982, the US signed three joint communiqué with China, which all confirmed that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China, and that the US will withdraw its forces and military installations from Taiwan.

The second and third joint communiqué went further by stating that the US recognizes the Government of the PRC as the sole legal Government of China, and that the people of the US will maintain cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan.

Since Pelosi is the third-ranked political figure in the US political sequence, and the US Congress is an integral part of the US government, her visit to Taiwan is by no means unofficial, hence should be considered as a violation of the US promise in the two aforementioned joint communiqués.

Due to Pelosi’s high position and big influence in the US politics, her visit to Taiwan will be inevitably interpreted by the Taiwan independence forces as a major political support of the US government for Taiwan’s independence, which is a seriously wrong signal.

For years, the US has broken its promise that it does not support Taiwan’s independence. Its senior government officials and congressmen have made periodic visits to the Chinese island. Moreover, it continues to sell arms to Taiwan, encouraging the Democratic Progressive Party (DDP) government to use military force to prevent unification of Taiwan with the Chinese mainland..

The US and the Taiwan pro-independence DDP government have employed a salami-slicing tactic of pressing step by step in seeking the island’s independence.

Ultimately China will have no choice but to use military force to prevent any attempt by the DDP government to declare independence

It should be understood that China, as a sovereign state, has every reason to defend itself and protect its territories by any means. The international community should criticize Pelosi’s provocative visit to Taiwan, and urge the US to respect the one-China principle and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs.

Disclaimer:  The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of The Citizen.