After Communist China issued a warning against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, saying such a visit would have “a serious impact on the political foundations of China and the United States. relations,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), a sharp critic of China, fired back. “The Chinese Communist Party can go straight to hell,” Crenshaw wrote. “You don’t tell us when our elected representatives can visit other countries, as they always have, since our nation’s inception. No amount of toddler-esque saber rattling will change that.”
Just minutes after Nancy Pelosi’s arrival, Beijing announced plans for live-fire military exercises in zones around the island of Taiwan. Prior to Pelosi’s arrival in Taiwan, Chinese warplanes flew over the area on the border of the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese Foreign Ministry acknowledged that it had issued a protest to the United States, threatening that the visit “seriously undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The defense ministry of China said it will start “targeted military operations,” France 24 reported. “The Chinese military announced joint air and sea drills near Taiwan and test launch of conventional missiles in the sea east of Taiwan, with Chinese state news agency Xinhua describing live-fire drills and other exercises around Taiwan from Thursday to Sunday,” the network detailed.
According to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, China’s leader Xi Jinping threatened the United States during a conversation with President Joe Biden about America’s ties with Taiwan. “Those who play with fire will perish by it. It is hoped that the United States will be clear-headed about this,” the Chinese statement warned.
While the visit was well received in Taiwan, it has somewhat divided opinion in the United States. Some commentators theorized that the visit might even push China to supply arms to Russia to be used in Ukraine. Something China has until now refused to do. But it has received support from some perhaps unexpected circles, with 26 Republican senators writing a letter in support of the visit.
The letter, which included signatories such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, stated that “for decades, members of the United States Congress, including previous Speakers of the House, have traveled to Taiwan.” The trip was “consistent with the United States’ One China policy to which we are committed.”
In May 2020, a report appeared in a Communist Chinese state media outlet claiming that Communist China was targeting various republican politicians, including Crenshaw, who had severely criticized the Chinese regime for its actions regarding the coronavirus. Crenshaw posted a provocative tweet in response, snapping, “So apparently I’m on the Chinese government’s radar now. Good. Bring it.”
In April 2020, at the start of the pandemic, Crenshaw did not mince words, saying of China “They allowed this virus to spread. They knew it would spread; they spread false talking points like it won’t spread from human to human contact. They didn’t let scientists in to investigate. They actually disappeared doctors who tried to blow the whistle. The number of deaths and infections they hid.”
Photo: United States House of Representatives Office of Photography/House Creative Services, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons