Prominent Republicans praised Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s delegation to Taiwan, even after the White House expressed apprehension about the trip.
Pelosi did not officially announce Taiwan would be part of her trip, which also includes Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and South Korea. She touched down Tuesday evening local time and is reportedly scheduled to meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen Wednesday morning local time. President Joe Biden previously stated July 20 that “the military thinks it’s not a good idea” for Pelosi to visit the island democracy “right now.”
Republicans defended the trip, although no members of the GOP joined Pelosi’s delegation. (RELATED: Taiwan’s Tallest Building Sends Strong Message To US)
“We support Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. For decades, members of the United States Congress, including previous Speakers of the House, have travelled to Taiwan. This travel is consistent with the United States’ One China policy to which we are committed. We are also committed now, more than ever, to all elements of the Taiwan Relations Act,” 26 Republican senators, led by Dan Sullivan of Alaska, said in a statement.
Twenty-six Senate Republicans, including McConnell, issue statement saying: “We support Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan.” pic.twitter.com/sU9bMlcCQ0
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 2, 2022
“I’m about to use four words in a row that I haven’t used in this way before. And those four words are, ‘Speaker Pelosi was right.’ When she decided to include Taiwan on her visit to Asia, or if she had just been going to Taiwan, that would have been right,” Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt said at a press conference. “The last person to be there at that rank was the speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, when he went 25 years ago. And he was right to send that message that we believe in democracy and we believe that the Taiwanese people have a right to that democracy. That’s exactly the message Speaker Pelosi is taking today.”
“Glad to see Speaker Pelosi follow through today on her visit to Taiwan,” former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted. “America has never taken orders from the Chinese Communist Party, nor shall we ever.”
The U.S. has operated under the “One China” policy since 1979, when the Carter administration officially recognized the Communist People’s Republican of China. In doing so, the U.S. stopped acknowledging Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, as the official Chinese state. The Taiwan Relations Act requires that the president confer with Congress about any threats to Taiwan from China and authorizes continued economic ties with the democracy.