After a visit that heightened tensions between the US and China, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taiwan on Wednesday. In response, China conducted its largest military exercises in more than 25 years, which analysts said might be seen as an act of war.
After an approximately 19-hour visit—the first by a House speaker in 25 years—the feisty 82-year-old California Democrat and her team took off for the airport in Taipei.
Weibo, the most widely used social media network in China, collapsed for around 30 minutes after Pelosi’s visit, proving that the platform was overloaded as numerous hashtags piled up several billion views.
Xiaoyuantoutiao, a well-known blogger, said, “This old she-devil, she actually dares to come!” and that they had gone to bed so angry that sleep evades them.
The Beijing government, which sees Taiwan as a part of its sovereign territory and had issued a number of menacing warnings while making it plain that the speaker’s visit would be seen as a huge provocation, was far more angry than the outrage expressed online.
Chinese airplanes circled the fictitious line separating the Taiwan Strait even before Pelosi arrived, and the People’s Liberation Army said that it was on high alert and would conduct targeted military actions.
The greatest drills directed against Taiwan since 1995 will take place in China starting on Thursday for four days, the country said after Pelosi touched down.
According to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua, the drills will involve live fire and conventional missile test launches.
According to Arthur Zhin-Sheng Wang, a defense studies specialist at Taiwan’s Central Police University, at least half of the six locations where the drills are scheduled to take place look to encroach on Taiwanese seas.
Wang cautioned that using live fire in a nation’s airspace or waterways might be interpreted as an act of war.
Representatives Gregory Meeks (D-NY), leader of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, were also part of Pelosi’s group.
South Korea will be the delegation’s next destination before finishing its Asian journey in Japan. Before making the unexpected stop in Taiwan, the MPs had already been to Singapore and Malaysia.
