Ahead of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's potential visit to Taiwan, Chinese commentators levelled open threats against the United States. Hu Xijin, former editor of Chinese government mouthpiece Global Times, taunted: "Where is Pelosi now, does anybody know? Some said that she will be going to Taiwan by a submarine instead, and others said that she has sneaked into Taiwan disguised as someone else, is that the case?"
News of a possible visit by Pelosi has set off intense speculation about China's potential diplomatic and military responses. But for Taiwan, the visit—if it occurs—would be merely the latest point of strife in an already tense situation that has shadowed the island democracy for decades.
As Global Times reported, on Thursday night, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone conversation with US President Joe Biden, where he said, "Public opinion cannot be defied. Those who play with fire will perish by it. It is hoped that the US will be clear-eyed about this."
Speaking to the publication, Yang Mingjie, head of the Institute of Taiwan Studies in Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "Sending fighter jets to intercept Pelosi's plane, declaring air and maritime zones around the island of Taiwan as restriction zones for military exercises: China's responses will be systematical and not limited to small scale given the severity of Pelosi's move and the damage to the political trust of China-US relations."
Taiwan, meanwhile, has continued to strike a balance between the two superpowers mainly by keeping quiet, even as tensions have risen. Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen "has done everything possible to avoid unnecessary provocations while maintaining the integrity of Taiwan's democracy", said Vincent Chao, a former director of the political division of Taiwan's representative office in Washington, DC.
If her trips goes ahead, Pelosi would be the highest-ranking elected US official to visit Taiwan since Newt Gingrich went there more than 25 years ago.
China has continued to silence Taiwan on the global stage, opposing all official exchanges between the island and other governments. It has poached Taiwan's diplomatic allies, including many small island nations, offering them access to Beijing's resources and support. And China threatens governments that send official visitors to Taiwan, as it has done with France, Lithuania and the European Union, among others.
China's deputy UN ambassador Geng Shuang raised the Taiwan issue at a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine Friday, referring to the United States without naming it.
