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China Responds to Pelosi Taiwan Visit, ‘To Set the Record Straight’

Aug. 26, 2022 (EIRNS)—Xinhua released a lengthy and extremely strong statement in response to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan on Aug. 2. It should be seen as a very serious declaration, as Xinhua is a state-run agency that has an obvious relationship with the government. Titled “Some Facts About Pelosi’s Visit to Taiwan,” it begins by saying that Pelosi’s visit has forced China to take countermeasures. “The U.S. side has been pushing disinformation to confuse right and wrong and confound black and white, criticizing China’s legitimate countermeasures and trying to mislead the world about the Taiwan question. It is necessary to set the record straight with facts and lay bare the U.S.’s hegemonic nature and gangster logic.”

They enunciate 11 points about Taiwan, its history, and the U.S.-China strategic relationship. Of particular note is their insistence that China only recognizes one policy coming from the U.S., and rejects the notion that Pelosi was “acting on her own.” “The U.S. Congress is part of the U.S. government.... Under neither international law nor U.S. domestic legislation does ‘separation of powers’ give the U.S. the excuse to defy international obligations and take actions that go against the basic norms governing international relations....” they write.

Other points made are: The one-China principle is the political foundation of China-U.S. relations; Pelosi’s visit has nothing to do with democracy, but is a stunt and provocation; and it is the U.S., not Taiwan, which initiated the visit.

They also discuss why Taiwan and Ukraine are “different in nature”: “Taiwan is not and has never been a country. It is a part of China.... Some people in the U.S. have deliberately drawn parallels between the Taiwan question and the Ukraine issue to mischaracterize the nature of the Taiwan question, an issue which is purely China’s internal affair. This is also their attempt to seek to deny the legitimacy and rationality of the efforts of the Chinese government to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

China has made many of these points before, but the publication of this article, in such depth, marks a certain turning-point in China’s indication that a red line has been crossed.

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is visiting Taiwan today in what is yet another round of provocative moves by members of the U.S. government. In a meeting with president Tsai Ing-wen, Blackburn said, “It is important indeed that freedom-loving nations support Taiwan as they seek to preserve their independence and their freedom.” At the July Conservative PAC (CPAC) meeting in Dallas, Blackburn gave a speech in which she similarly referred to Taiwan as a “country,” a fact that is not lost on Chinese observers. She tweeted on Aug. 25: “I will continue to stand with the Taiwans [sic] and their right to freedom and democracy. Xi Jinping doesn’t scare me.”

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