Pelosi's Taiwan visit is an irresponsible act
Solly Rakgomo | Monday August 8, 2022 13:22
The visit has escalated tensions between China and the USA. Despite some advise not to take the trip by some top US officials such as the national security advisor Jake Sullivan and other senior national Security Council officials because of the risk of escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait; Nancy Pelosi was adamant on her desire to be the first House Speaker to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
This is a provocative and controversial trip that has also sparked concern among some allies of the USA who are rightly worried that this act of unwarranted provocation has the potential to trigger a crisis between the US and China.
The visit to Taiwan by Pelosi is an irresponsible act of provocation with a blatant intent of undermining and eroding the “One China” policy. This act of aggression by the USA seriously undermines the virtues of sovereignty and territorial integrity, which has a huge potential to destabilise not only the Taiwan Strait, but also the whole of the Asia- Pacific region. The Americans know very well that by engaging in this provocative behaviour they are deliberately invoking the spirit of separatism masqueraded as “Taiwan independence”.
The USA wrongly thinks that by supporting separatism of Taiwan from China that would put them in a geopolitical advantage of “containing China as rival super power”. However, it must be noted that the outcomes of their provocative behaviour might not turn out to be in their advantage because China will never let that happen, as it clearly stated in the statement released by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Despite the rhetoric from western mainstream press pushing the narrative of “ self determination” of Taiwan little attention is deliberately given to the facts that the visit will have a long term adverse impact on the sovereignty of China (in this case the One China Policy), national and regional security. The western mainstream media and US officials deliberately ignore to refer the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971 which recognises that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of China and that the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.
Furthermore it is utterly shocking that the US deliberately ignores the fact that since the People’s Republic of China was founded nearly 73 years ago it has established diplomatic relations with more than 180 countries which were anchored on the principle of One China Policy, therefore this principle is a “universal consensus of the international community and a basic norm in international relations”. These are simple facts!
From this, one can safely argue that as the whole international community have a deep understanding of One China Policy stance so the ill advised visit by Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan is nothing but blatant acts of aggression and provocation by the USA to China that border on serious undermining of the sovereignty and national security of the People’s Republic of China. Worthy to note is that these unwarranted acts of provocation masqueraded as “promoting self determination of states” might provide a single spark that could ignite this combustible situation into a crisis that might escalate into a military crisis that has the potential to destabilize the Asia- Pacific region.
A noble advice to the US Administration and its officials especially of the calibre of Nancy Pelosi is that unwarranted acts of provocation with the ill conceived intention of the containment of China has the potential to lead to dangerous tensions between China and the USA. The Americans must learn strong lessons from their actions in other parts of the world such as the current conflict in Ukraine, where US –led NATO ignored the security concerns of Russia when NATO pushed for including Ukraine under its fold and their actions have resulted in the quagmire that the international community find itself in.
As a parting shot it is important for the USA to understand that maintenance of global peace, stability and security lies in her respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states, in this case the People’s Republic of China and its One China Policy.