by Fraser Myers at Spiked
‘Not a good idea right now.’ These words, uttered the other week by Joe Biden, could easily be a contender for the understatement of the year. This is how the president of the United States, conveying the views of his military advisers, chose to describe House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan this week.
So what was Pelosi thinking? Her planned two-day visit – news of which was leaked to the Financial Times last month – was always going to ratchet up global tensions. It could only ever have sent US-China relations plummeting to new depths. And that is exactly what it has done.
Within half an hour of Pelosi’s arrival, the Chinese armed forces vowed to undertake a ‘targeted military operation’. On Tuesday, they began an unprecedented six days of military drills around Taiwan’s territory. And from tomorrow China is expected to conduct ‘live fire’ exercises. All of which amounts to an effective blockade of Taiwan by air and sea. China has also suspended the trade of thousands of food products with Taiwan. The Taiwanese are already paying a heavy price.
For four decades, consecutive US administrations have maintained…