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Taiwan’s residents are largely undisturbed by China’s recent threats of military action should House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visit the island.
News of Pelosi’s potential trip to Taiwan leaked last week. She would be the highest-level U.S. official to visit the island since House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997. China has warned the U.S. that it will react with “firm and resolute measures” if Pelosi goes through with the trip, but the country has made a habit of such threats for similar visits in the past.
“To the Taiwanese people, Chinese threats have never stopped in the past decades. It’s happening every day,” Taiwanese lawmaker Wang Ting-yu told Reuters on Thursday.
“Taiwan needs to be on guard, but Taiwan will not cave in to fear,” he added.
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A protester displays a banner supporting Taiwan during a massive protest against China in front of the Presidential Building in Taipei, Taiwan. Taiwan struggles with its identity as it retains its official name “Republic of China,” along with a constitution that defines its territory as encompassing all of mainland China. But as far as communist China is concerned, Taiwan is part of its territory, and insists that the two sides eventually reunite. (AP Photo/Wally Santana, File)
(The Associated Press)
Taiwan resident and education professional Chen Yen-chen stated China is making “mostly verbal threats” at the moment, “so this time around I am quite at ease,” he told Reuters.
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Pelosi’s trip has placed her in a unique political position, with Republicans on Capitol Hill urging her to go through with the plan, while President Joe Biden advised her not to.
“Speaker Pelosi should absolutely go forward with her trip to Taiwan. She might want to consider adding a prominent Republican like Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, to show the bipartisan support that exists in this country for Taiwan. We cannot allow Chinese threats to deter a mere visit by a member of Congress to Taiwan,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told Fox News on Tuesday.
“If Joe Biden prevents Nancy Pelosi or any other member of Congress from traveling to Taiwan, it will create a major foreign policy crisis,” he added.
While China has threatened military action in response to the visit, the Pentagon does not think it likely that the nation would attack Pelosi directly. Nevertheless, the U.S. military is drafting plans to protect her should she go.
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Pelosi has yet to announce a final decision on whether she will go through with the trip.
