Analysis: Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan marks the culmination of decades of anti-Beijing activism by the most powerful female politician in American history | KnottMatthew
United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been an outspoken critic of China’s human rights record throughout her career.Pelosi’s role as a crusader against the CCP began in 1991, two years after the Tiananmen Square massacre and four years after she entered Congress as a Democrat from California. While visiting Beijing on a delegation, she and two fellow Congress members broke away from their escorts and visited Tiananmen Square without permission.
She has since led congressional delegations to Dharamshala, home of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, to meet with the Dalai Lama and speak out against China’s persecution of Tibet. In the 1990s, Pelosi held firm as Democratic president Bill Clinton pursued closer relations with Beijing. After Clinton met Chinese president Jiang Zemin in 1998, Pelosi issued a blistering statement, saying Clinton “was wrong in trying to relegate the Tiananmen Square tragedy to the realm of ‘past action’” and had “missed an opportunity to associate himself with China’s reformers”.Pelosi regularly criticised Clinton for granting China preferential trading status without insisting on any human rights improvements.
In 2008, she publicly called for president George W Bush to boycott the Beijing Olympics . During a visit to China a year later she delivered a letter to then president Hu Jintao demanding the release of political prisoners. In 2019. she welcomed pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong to the US Capitol.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Beijing says military will ‘not sit idly by’ if Pelosi goes to TaiwanThe US Speaker of the House is leading a group of legislators around the region after landing in Singapore early on Monday.
Read more »
British MPs plan visit to Taiwan as tension with China simmersExclusive: Tom Tugendhat likely to lead trip later this year as London’s relationship with Beijing deteriorates
Read more »
'Very serious consequences': Why Nancy Pelosi's expected Taiwan visit has made China angryNancy Pelosi appears all but certain to visit Taiwan, and China is ramping up its warnings. But why?
Read more »
Taiwan and China step up military rhetoric as expected Pelosi visit loomsUS House speaker expected to arrive in Taiwan on Tuesday in visit likely to increase tensions between Beijing and Washington
Read more »
Nancy Pelosi lands in Taiwan as China condemns her visitPelosi says the visit to Taiwan honours America's 'unwavering commitment' to support Taiwan's democracy.
Read more »
The US risks an all-out war with China if Pelosi visits TaiwanPelosi's supporters believe the US House Speaker should go to Taiwan, and at this moment. But given the deteriorating state of Sino-American relations, such a trip could provoke a very real Chinese show of force, writes Professor Joseph M. Siracusa.
Read more »