Pelosi launches Asia trip with no mention of Taiwan

by Julia Mueller - 07/31/22 5:59 AM ET

FILE – A Ching Chiang class patrol ship fires off depth charges underwater as part of a navy demonstration in Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang exercises off the island’s eastern coast near the city of Yilan, Taiwan on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. The crisis sparked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan misses a key point, experts say: that the real focus should be on how the United States and China manage their differences so the risks of confrontation don’t spiral out of control. (AP Photo/Huizhong Wu, File)

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) starts a four-country tour of Asia on Sunday, but included no mention of a potential Taiwan stop in a statement about her plans.

Pelosi early Sunday said she will lead a congressional delegation to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.

The six-member delegation is set to discuss peace, trade, climate, human rights, COVID-19 and “democratic governance,” Pelosi said.

President Biden said earlier this month that the U.S. military “thinks it’s not a good idea right now” for Pelosi to visit Taiwan.

Beijing also warned a trip to the self-ruled island would “have a severe negative impact on the political foundation of China-US relations, and send a gravely wrong signal to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces.”

And former President Trump criticized Pelosi’s potential trip, saying it would make tensions worse, though lawmakers on both sides of the aisle lauded the idea.

The U.S. has remained strategically ambiguous about its position on Taiwan, which China claims as part of its own territory despite its self-governing status. Under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, the U.S. is committed aiding Taiwan in its self-defense against Beijing.

If Pelosi does visit Taiwan, she would be the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the island since 1997.

Pelosi said in Sunday’s statement that the Indo-Pacific region “is crucial to prosperity in our nation and around the globe.”

Pelosi’s delegation to the region is set to include the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and the chairman of the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs, Mark Takano (D-Calif.), as well as Democratic Reps. Suzan DelBene (Wash.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill.) and Andy Kim (N.J.).

–Updated at 7:41 a.m.