Marsha Blackburn challenges China by visiting Taiwan: According to The Hill, Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House, praised the recent trip to Taiwan by 25 Republican senators and praised Taiwan as the US’s greatest ally in the Indo-Pacific region.
According to Blackburn, “regular high-level trips to Taipei are long-standing US policy,” She said she would not submit to Chinese pressure to abandon the island.
According to The Hill, Blackburn made stops in Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea en route to Taiwan. Douglas Hsu, the director-general for North American affairs at Taiwan’s foreign ministry greeted him at the airport.
According to reports cited by The Hill, Blackburn will meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday before leaving on Saturday.
Earlier this month, Pelosi led a team to Taiwan. Making history as the highest-ranking American politician to go to the island in 25 years.
After she departed, China retaliated by conducting military exercises close to the island for many days. In addition, a five-person delegation of parliamentarians paid a visit to Taiwan a few days later. Which prompted China to resume military exercises in response.
Beijing wants to reconnect the Chinese mainland with Taiwan because it considers Taiwan its territory.
China claims that Taiwan is the most crucial problem affecting its diplomatic relations with Washington. Still, Taiwan’s government counters that Beijing has no right to choose its allies since it has never governed the island.
China is still conducting military exercises outside Taiwan. Which some experts claim are rehearsing a full-scale invasion on the 22 million-person island.
Taiwan has never been under the sovereignty of China. Still, the country’s governing Chinese Communist Party regards it as a part of its territory and has long promised to “reunite” the island with the Chinese mainland, using force if necessary.
On July 30, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted threatening drills in East China and South China Seas in response to Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
On August 1-4, live-fire military exercises were conducted in the Gulf of Bohai. And on August 2–6, routine drills were born in the South China Sea.
