Tybuffoon Pelosi Hits Taipei

After Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei, tensions between Taiwan and mainland China have been at their highest point in recent memory. Less than 24 hours after her visit, China demonstrated its long-range missile capabilities by firing at least 11 missiles around the island on Thursday.

Officially, the United States supports mainland China’s claim to the island, called the One-China Policy. The House speaker’s trip to visit the government in Taiwan stood in direct opposition to that policy, with Beijing warning Pelosi that there would be consequences if she visited the island that they consider their territory.

Both President Joe Biden and the Department of Defense warned Pelosi of the dangers of the trip, saying it was “not a good idea right now,” and feared it would increase tensions between the United States and China and possibly put China on a more aggressive path towards unification.

Some missiles landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, also increasing tensions between Asia’s two largest economies. China said all missiles hit their targets, so this could be seen as a warning to the United States, which has troops stationed in the country.

Tensions between Taiwan and China had been cooling over the last decade, with economic ties and commercial flights increasing in recent years. However, those gains seem to have been erased by Pelosi’s trip.

China’s military drills around the island are expected to last 72 hours. The Taiwan strait that separates it from the mainland is a mere 100 miles wide.