Early Sunday morning, the world was alerted by a few images from an airplane traffic tracker, which were shared on social media, that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was on her way to Asia.
JUST IN – Pelosi is now en route to Asia: reports. pic.twitter.com/1DOlG8RNgB
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 30, 2022
For nearly two week, as many readers know, drama has erupted between Pelosi and the White House about her potential stop in Taiwan to show support for the island nation against the CCP, as we wrote previously, with China allegedly rattling its saber about the idea in a phone call with President Joe Biden. And that drama has only intensified in recent days. On Saturday, there was word, via Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, that the White House had leaked Pelosi’s itinerary, in an effort to keep her from going.
But now, Pelosi may have tipped her hand on whether she will be stopping there or not. UPI is reporting that her office has release the Speaker’s itinerary for the Asia trip — and it doesn’t include Taiwan.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday confirmed that she is leading a delegation of lawmakers to Asian countries but her plans do not mention Taiwan. …
Pelosi said in a statement Sunday that her trip to the Indo-Pacific region will include visits to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan to hold “high-level meetings” to discuss how the countries “can further advance our shared interests and values” including security, trade, the climate crisis and human rights.
“Under the strong leadership of President Biden, America is firmly committed to smart, strategic engagement in the region, understanding that a free and flourishing Indo-Pacific is crucial to prosperity in our nation and around the globe,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi said Sunday that the delegation made a fuel stop in Hawaii where members were briefed by the leadership of the U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific command visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial and the USS Arizona.
The statement continues:
“It is my privilege as Speaker to lead this distinguished group of Members, which includes Chairs of Committees and Subcommittees of jurisdiction and champions of a strong U.S.-Asia Pacific partnership,” Pelosi said.
“We look forward to productive meetings that will continue to inform Congress’s work to advance our values and interests and strengthen our partnerships in the region.”
According to reporting by the Washington Post, “Joanne Ou, a spokesperson for Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs….[said] she had ‘no further information to share with the media at this moment.’”
Anything can change, of course, but you have to hope that Pelosi defies both Biden and Xi, and decides to visit Taiwan–but just doesn’t announce it officially. Stay tuned.
Story cited here.
