Personally, I do not care too much if Nancy Pelosi is prevented from going to Taiwan; it is not clear why she needs to do such an inflammatory thing in the age of the internet. And, if the plane that the old lady is in gets shot down, or is involved in an accident, one would expect war over this, but I have my doubts now whether the US has the guts. The strategy seems to do everything to waste the country away, until war for defeat is not even necessary at all. China, I imagine would just walk in a Red Dawn scenario. Same for Australia after your Labor government destroys the economy with climate change nonsense and woke politically correct agendas, such as the “Aboriginal voice.” Looking at your country from the US, I see you on the same path to destruction as us.
At present we do not know if Pelosi is going to Taiwan or not, and the CCP and PLA are nervous and edgy, eager to shoot down anything that threatens their land of Taiwan. I don’t know why in 1949 this country was built, rather than making a clean start a long way away from commo China. Talk about sitting ducks.
“According to prior comments from President Biden, the Pentagon wants House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to cancel her visit to Taiwan - but now pending her possible arrival in Taipei the US military has moved a Navy strike group into the South China Sea led by the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier.
The USS Reagan left a port call in Singapore and is now patrolling waters near China, with Beijing flexing its own military muscle by launching fresh naval exercises near the self-ruled island - and more worrisomely issuing threats that the PLA military is on stand-by to respond with "forceful measures" if needed. Turkey's EHA media outlet on Saturday is circulating (unverified) video purporting to show large US warplane formation flyovers of the South China sea, with destroyers below...
Pelosi is currently en route over the Pacific for a scheduled tour of Asia - including stops in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore - with The Washington Post's Josh Rogin on Friday reporting that a Taiwan stopover is "expected to happen" during the "early part" of the trip, based on diplomatic sources.
All eyes are on Pelosi's flight path after it was days ago revealed that Taiwan was listed "tentative" as part of her itinerary...
It's expected that if she goes through with the Taiwan visit, Pelosi would at some point in Asia board a military transport plane - likely with US fighter jet escort. This possibility is what has infuriated Beijing.
Chinese state media, for example, has been issuing loud warnings saying the PLA military would have the "right" to intercept and deter any armed jet escort, deeming this akin to an "invasion" and violation of China's sovereignty.
Chinese foreign ministry officials continue to warn that "all options, including military ones" are on the table given Beijing is interpreting the potential Pelosi visit as a strong signal to pro-independence forces, as well as 'interference' and a violation of the One China principle.
Beijing is further warning that the House Speaker's visit to the island, which would mark a first in 25 years, would only ratchet the potential for "misunderstandings" and miscalculation.
As CNN previewed, China's PLA Navy is holding "live-fire" exercises in waters off Taiwan, raising the stakes further:
China is planning to conduct live-fire exercises on Saturday in waters near Pingtan Island of Fujian province, which is opposite the self-governing island of Taiwan.
The Pingtan Maritime Safety Administration issued a navigation warning about the drills late Thursday local time, prohibiting all ships from entering waters near the island and the southeastern province of Fujian. It said the "live-fire training missions" would take place from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
As Pelosi flies to the region, the US and Chinese militaries are engaged in rival maneuvering in the seas below...
When the USS Reagan strike group entered the South China Sea, there were widespread reports that Chinese destroyers began following closely behind, mirroring and monitoring US Navy movements in the waters.
Chinese pundits and others have lately been circulating Archduke Franz Ferdinand memes, suggesting that if something goes wrong, the provocative trip could be what sparks the next world war pitting nuclear-armed superpowers China and the US against each other (and perhaps also Russia, given the war in Ukraine and Moscow-Washington stand-off in Eastern Europe).”
Here is a tweet from a leading Chinese communist:
If US fighter jets escort Pelosi’s plane into Taiwan, it is invasion. The PLA has the right to forcibly dispel Pelosi’s plane and the US fighter jets, including firing warning shots and making tactical movement of obstruction. If ineffective, then shoot them down. https://t.co/V7LhrXgXoM
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) July 29, 2022
“Hu Xijin, former editor of China’s state-run Global Times and a top Communist propagandist, took his increasingly belligerent rhetoric against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) rumored visit to Taiwan to its ultimate conclusion on Friday by advising the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to simply shoot Pelosi’s plane down, along with her U.S. Air Force escorts.
“If U.S. fighter jets escort Pelosi’s plane into Taiwan, it is [an] invasion,” Hu argued.
“The PLA has the right to forcibly dispel Pelosi’s plane and the U.S. fighter jets, including firing warning shots and making tactical movement of obstruction. If ineffective, then shoot them down,” he said.
Hu’s outburst was prompted by reports that Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, reportedly planned for April but postponed after she contracted the Wuhan coronavirus, could take place this weekend. Pelosi previously discussed traveling to Taiwan sometime in August, but a firm date had not been set. Neither she nor her office have confirmed any planned travel to Taiwan.
Pelosi departs today with a group of other U.S. lawmakers on an Asia tour that will include announced stops in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore. A stopover in Taiwan had not been confirmed at the time of this writing.
“I never talk about my travel. It’s a danger to me,” Pelosi said when asked by reporters to confirm her itinerary on Wednesday.
The Associated Press reported on Thursday that the Pentagon has prepared plans for escorting Pelosi to Taiwan if she proceeds with her visit, including “overlapping rings of protection” that would include jet fighters, surveillance aircraft, and surface ships.
“If there’s a decision made that Speaker Pelosi or anyone else is going to travel and they asked for military support, we will do what is necessary to ensure a safe conduct of their visit. And I’ll just leave it at that,” Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Mark Milley said.
President Joe Biden vaguely stated last week that the U.S. military believes a Pelosi visit to Taiwan would not be “a good idea right now.” The White House and Pentagon have thus far declined to elaborate on this statement.
Both Republican and Democrat lawmakers have urged Pelosi to visit Taiwan as scheduled, saying China should not dictate the travel plans of American officials. On the other hand, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) on Wednesday strongly implied Pelosi should back down, because “escalating tensions with China” would cause a “significant distraction” for the Biden administration.
Hu Xijin apparently wants that distraction to include World War III. Last week, he suggested the PLA should force Pelosi’s plane down in Chinese territory, abducting the Speaker and other American lawmakers traveling with her. He also proposed sending PLA warplanes to shadow Pelosi all the way down to the tarmac in Taipei, or shutting down all Taiwanese aviation with a no-fly zone, all of which would be acts of war.
Chinese government officials have been somewhat less bloodthirsty than Hu in their public pronouncements, but they have still suggested a military crisis could result if Pelosi visits Taiwan.
On Thursday, Chinese dictator Xi Jinping told Biden that Chinese “public opinion” on Taiwan could not be denied, and “those who play with fire will perish by it.””