Why is Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan making China so uncomfortable?

The visit to Taiwan this Tuesday by the president of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has sparked strong reactions from China, which has even gone so far as to say that it will have “serious consequences”.

US relations with China have taken a rocky path in recent years. Following the strengthening of Beijing’s economy and military might since the turn of the century, Washington accuses China of trying to impose its influence throughout East Asia and the Pacific.

China claims territories in the seas near its coasts, mostly small islands and archipelagos disputed with other countries in the region, but Taiwan can be said to be the “jewel in the crown”.

Why Taiwan?

Taiwan is an island separated from mainland China by the Strait of Formosa. The island was even identified as Formosa for a long time. Nationalist forces took refuge there in 1949 after losing a civil war against the communists led by Mao Zedong.

At that time of the Cold War, when China was not yet seen as a world power, the United States recognized the government of Taiwan, which was even China’s representative in the United Nations until the 1970s.

Beijing, however, never relinquished that territory.

What happen after?

With the rapprochement of the United States with China in the 1970s, there was a change in Washington’s policy, which recognized the Beijing government as the sole representative of China and relegated Taiwan to a secondary role on the global stage.

The United States formally severed official relations with Taiwan in 1979, but continued to maintain friendly unofficial ties with the island and supply it with defensive weapons under a congressional mandate.

How does Taiwan work?

Over time, Taiwan has become a strong economy and a major producer of microprocessors.

In its beginnings, it was under a martial law regime until 1987 and from 1996 it became a democracy.

Its inhabitants, who previously considered an eventual reintegration with China, have developed a sense of national identity that has begun to discard that idea.

What does China want?

The Chinese government has never abandoned the notion of “one China” and rejects any legitimacy of an autonomous government in Taiwan.

For years, US relations with Taiwan have been a bit “strange” and somewhat based on China’s unease.

Officially, Taiwanese officials are not received on US soil as such and some have even been barred from entering the country.

But in recent years, Beijing has suspected that Washington may be leaning toward more explicit support for Taiwan.

On three different occasions, US President Joe Biden has indicated that the United States would defend Taiwan against an invasion by China.

And what about Pelosi’s visit?

Interestingly, Pelosi is not the first House leader to visit Taiwan. In 1995, Newt Gingrich, who held that position, was on the island, which also drew the ire of Beijing.

The difference is that Gingrich then led the Republican majority in the House during a Democratic administration of President Bill Clinton.

Now, however, the fact that Pelosi belongs to the same party as Biden is perceived with great distrust by Beijing, despite the fact that Biden expressed that the time was not appropriate for the visit.

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