E-Paper
After Pelosi's Taiwan visit, Congress MP has a suggestion for Speaker Om Birla
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan trip has racheted up the tension between United States and China, which considers the self-ruled island as part of its territory.
Congress MP Manish Tewari on Wednesday suggested that an Indian parliamentary delegation led by Speaker Om Birla should also explore a visit to Taiwan after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in the self-governed island. Calling Pelosi’s Taiwan visit historic, Tewari highlighted US President Joe Biden’s assertion that Congress is a co-equal branch of the government, which means the executive has little control over congressional travel. (Explained: Why Pelosi went to Taiwan, and why China is angry)
“Speaker @SpeakerPelosi ‘s visit to Taiwan is historic . As President @JoeBiden told Xi Jing Ping Congress is a co equal branch of Govt similarly an Indian Parlimentary delegation led by Speaker @ombirlakota should also explore a visit to Taiwan,” the Lok Sabha member posted on Twitter.
Tewari added, “It is not only @SpeakerPelosi but 03 US carrier battle groups namely aircraft carrier’s USS Ronald Reagan, USS Tripoli & USS America also in vicinity of Taiwan.Most serious power projection by US since 1995 when US carriers sailed thru Taiwan Straits. Indo-Pacific heating up.”
Pelosi landed in Taiwan late Tuesday becoming the highest-ranking American official in 25 years to visit the self-ruled island, angering China, which quickly announced that it would conduct military maneuvers in retaliation. Her visit escalated tension between China and the United States as Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory under its one-China policy and views visits by foreign government officials as recognition of the island’s sovereignty.
White House, however, insisted that Pelosi's Taiwan visit did not constitute a violation of Chinese sovereignty or America's longstanding "one-China" policy.
"What we don't want to see is this spiral into any kind of a crisis or conflict," Kirby told reporters in a Tuesday briefing. "There's just no reason to amp this up," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday.
