What is the Purpose of Nancy Pelosi’s historical visit to Taiwan

Pelosi’s historical visit to Taiwan 

United States politician Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on 2nd August 2022. Why did she go to Taiwan ? Firstly it should be given information about Nancy Pelosi who is well known leading politician in Washington DC. She is serving speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and she is a member of the Democratic Party in which her father was also a politician who served under President John F. Kennedy.  The reason she has been all over the international news is that she visited Taiwan which sparked a diplomatic dispute with China. Basically that is the point why crisis story started. One should have to understant that the reason the United States has an obsession with Taiwan is because of United States looks at Taiwan as a strategic tool to counter China effectively. One must be aware of the fact that China -Taiwan issue is happening since 1949. China considers Taiwan as part of its own territory and it wants to take control of Taiwan by using force in either way. But on the other hand Taiwan’s leaders and decision makers and also majority of their populations say that Taiwan is a sovereign country and they would like to be called Taiwanese not Chinese. If one look at the Taiwan it seems that they have full right to be a sovereign country and conduct their political and diplomatic matters. On the other hand it should be understood that The western countries especially the United States support Taiwan not because only they believe in democracy nor they share similiar democratic values however they support  Taiwan for military and strategic purpose. In fact western countries do a lot of business with China and reason today the Chinese economy is at top leading economy that because of United States policies during the 70s and 80s. China opened its economy to world in 1978 which introducing the economic reform inside Chinese domestic market from 1978 to 1989 with market friendly reform. 

If one can remember that United States President Richard Nixon’s visit to China 1972 that was the first time U.S President had visited China. President Nixon’s visit to China is also seen as the end of 25 years of no communication or diplomatic ties between the two countries. One can also see that during the 70’s that a new era of U.S-China relations started before that China was seen as cold war enemy of the United States. Although the cold war was between United States and Soviet Union in other words the war between democracy-capitalism versus communism even China was naturally viewed as communist enemy but today it can be seen  that Chinese political fraternity is communist but China’s market is purely capitalist. Today if one look at the list of countries by the number of billionaire residents, China is at number two right after the United States.  

In fact U.S President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden used to do a lot of business with China. It can be seen the truth is that The United States looks at Taiwan as strategic tool to counter China whenever the United States want. Why Taiwan matters to China ? Apart  from territorial integrity, the reason China wants Taiwan because is because of its economic capabilities and China does not want Taiwan to be attracted by western influence. The same thing it can be seen in Ukriane as well. Why Russia attack to Ukraine ? Russia has continuously told Ukraine not to be part of NATO or any other western alliance because Russia doesn’t want the western military installations anywhere near its border and Russia also doesn’t want western culture to create influence that may undermine Russian civilization. In fact it is also true in India even majority of Indians are not a big fan of western ideas and western pop culture. The same thing is with Taiwan that China does not want Taiwan to be next Ukraine because China is aware of the fact that The United States as well as NATO forces will establish military installation in Taiwan and that is going to be a direct threat to Chinese foreign policy plus China is very smart and its knows that whatever today Russia is facing economically because of sanctions tomorrow it can happen to China as well. Taiwan’s electronic sector attracts greatest share of its foreign investment and Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company-TSMC  is the world’s largest chip maker and Asia’s most valuable listed company at almost 600 billion dollars. On top of it, China and Taiwan’s economies are very much dependent on each other and China is Taiwan’s biggest export partner with an export value of 515 billion dolar from January 2017 to January 2022 more than double the U.S  which is next biggest partner. China imports chips from Taiwan than its does oil that means China is very much dependent on Taiwan for its electronic and manufacturing industries key components. If it can be remembered that from 2018 during Donald Trump’s Presidency, there was an ongoing economic conflict between China and United States which was also termed as China United States Trade War and both the countries had put sanctions on each other. Because of the U.S-China trade war and then because of the pandemic, China’s image around the world started declining. Many Taiwanese and foreign companies that were based in mainland China started relocating back to Taiwan because of this, Taiwan actually became an indirect beneficiary of the U.S China trade war and the pandemic. The western countries do not want to let go this leverage on China and the leverage is basically Taiwan. 

The United States promoting about free market economy, human rights and sovereignty but real reason is that United States has to compete with China economically and Taiwan is that catalyst that can alter the face of the U.S -China conflict. It can be remembered that on 28 th July 2022, President Joe Biden spoke to President Xİ Jinping in which there was an important point have been adressed by the United States President. President Biden said that “ The United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”  President Biden’s remarks indicate that The United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts in other words The United States saying to China that don’t take decisions individually when it comes to any policy in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan Strait is basically 180 KM wide waterway between mainland China and Island of Taiwan. Taiwan Strait is one of the major global trade routes with almost 20 percent of global trade passing through the strait any military activities between China and Taiwan will distrupt the global supply chain creating a crisis on international stage. The U.S Taiwan relations are fueling the military assertiveness of China on strait in which the visit of U.S house speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan has heightened the tensions between China and U.S. If this continues then this will potentially lead to U.S China confrontation. When President Trump was in office, United States already sold a lot of weapons to Taiwan. Even now Biden Administration is continuing the weapons trade with Taiwan. 

On one side  there is a Taiwan and on the other side there is China with all the economic and military strength and China is like the big elephant- panda and Taiwan is like someone that is ferocious as smaller in size but Taiwan has all right to be a sovereign country Even China would like to to do something about it. They will definitely do something and they will not sit idle without any action. In this concept, majority of the chinese people living in mainland China they believe that Taiwan is an integral part of China similarly the majority of people in Taiwan call themselves Taiwanese and they don’t like to be called as Chinese but if one go back in history this island was annexed in 1683 by the king dynasty of China and then in 1895 it went to the empire of Japan and finally after the end of World War II in 1945 when Japan lost, they surrendered the territory of Taiwan to the Chinese Goverment and in 1949 after the Chinese Civil War the communist regime took over the previous goverment but before regime change in China, previous goverment relocated to Taiwan in 1949 under the leadership of Chiang Kai-Shek and since then tensions between China and Taiwan have been rising therefore this problem is becoming very complicated. If being looked from fundamental right perspective then Taiwan has the right to conduct itself however they want just like to be any other foreign country but China is not at all comfortable with those consequences because those consequences will challenge China’s interest in terms of foreign as well as economic policy. It will also undermine China’s civilizational identity but one thing is for sure that tension between China and Taiwan will escalate to a degree where there is a full fledged war just  like it has been between Russia and Ukraine then The United States will supply money and military equipment but it will not land american troops in Taiwan. It is like outsourcing a war to a local country but it is certain that local country will suffer as not forgetting that China is a nuclear country. It is important to note that what did Russia say when they were cornered, Russia said they will use nuclear weapon if required similarly even China will do same step that because of the fact that nuclear weapons are not developed to keep in a museum. China conducts military drills near the island when Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. China even conducted live fire exercises in response to that visit. 

What US government would think of this exercise and action, and what reactions would the US government take next or in the future.

1- The United States will send another delegation to Taiwan or American Administration will approve another weapon sale Taiwan Administration. 

2- China will retaliate with its military power it means that The United States will do little bit provoking military action as singing song then China will response it with dance. 

3- In coming month it is important to mention that China Communist Party will have 28th national congress and most likely XI Jinping will continue his third term as president and there is a big possibility that he will also discuss China’s future plans regarding Taiwan but it is important to keep in mind that China has one country policy with two systems which have been in effect since 1970’s. But in 2000, The Democratic Progressive Party come into power in Taiwan and they rejected China’s one country two system policy and they started promoting the idea of independence and that come as an alarm to China. Even United States officially acknowledges the one China Policy that American Administration has no interested to fight for Taiwan’s independence which have been confirmed by Kurt Campbell White House Senior Coordinator. 

4- The United States wants to ensure Taiwan’s autonomy because that is how it is going to benefit for United States to provide balance of power in Indo-Pacific Geopolitics. The reason American Administration has an obsession with Taiwan is because of the fact that Taiwan is military and strategic tool reach Indo-Pacific region and provide security for Japan and South Korea. In fact there is a term called first island chain it includes American allies in Indo-Pacific Region those are Japan, Taiwan, The Philippines but Taiwan is flash point in U.S –China confrontation. 

5- If United States will send delegations after China military drill in Taiwan Strait or If United States will increase weapon sale to Taiwan after Nancy Polesi visit, China will rise up military drill capacity to second island chain as justifying its own action as saying that so called “ U.S provocation” . It is similar that Russia kept saying The United States ignored their warning.