Pelosi: U.S. cannot allow China’s ‘new normal’ over Taiwan

House of Representatives
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday the United States could
not allow China to normalize the new level of pressure on Taiwan
it asserted with days of military drills following her visit to
the Chinese-claimed island.
“What we saw with China is that they were trying to
establish sort of a new normal. And we just can’t let that
happen,” Pelosi told a news conference with four other
Democratic House members who accompanied her on the trip to
Asia.
China said on Wednesday it had “completed various tasks”
around Taiwan, but will continue regular patrols, potentially
signaling an end to days of war games while keeping up pressure
on the self-ruled island.
Furious at the visit to Taipei last week by Pelosi, a vocal
critic of China for decades who stands second in line of
succession for the U.S. presidency, China had extended its
largest-ever exercises around the self-ruled island it claims as
its own beyond the four days originally scheduled.
“We went there to praise Taiwan. We went there to show our
friendship, to say China cannot isolate Taiwan,” Pelosi said.
She laughed when asked about China’s announcement that it
was sanctioning her and her immediate family. “Who cares?”
Pelosi said. “That is incidental to me, of no relevance
whatsoever.”
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi said the delegation
discussed a backlog of pending arms sales to Taiwan. He and
Representative Gregory Meeks, chairman of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, said lawmakers were taking steps to move such
deals more quickly.
“We intend to fulfill all of our obligations to all of our
partners and others who are counting on us for these vital
supplies,” Krishnamoorthi said.
Meeks said his committee was working on legislation that
would help expedite defense equipment agreements.