Joe Biden, anxious not to poison already strained relations with Beijing, had asked him to give up this visit.
In the days leading up to her arrival in Taiwan, Chinese officials constantly warned her against this trip, which was described as "extremely dangerous" and "flagrant interference".
These warnings did not, however, deter Nancy Pelosi.
The 82-year-old Democratic Speaker of the US House of Representatives is, it is true, not her first outburst against the Chinese communist regime.
It is even a constant with this deputy from San Francisco – where a large Chinese community lives – who, throughout her political career, has distinguished herself by her positions against the People's Republic of China... makes good.
“Beijing particularly hates Nancy Pelosi, who has always been very firm on questions of democracy and human rights in China”, underlines Valérie Niquet, Asia specialist at the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) .
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Taiwan: Pelosi claims to have come “in peace”, “those who offend China will be punished” says Beijing
“A need to warn the Chinese”
In 1991, two years after the Tian'anmen massacre, she went without authorization to the square where students had been repressed by the Chinese army and unfurled a black and white banner in tribute to the demonstrators killed.
She befriended the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet and pet peeve of the regime, where she went during a visit to Dharamsala in 2008. She also supported pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong , strongly denounced the repression of the Uyghur community and has always shown itself alongside the Taiwanese authorities.
Her visit to the autonomous island, which she had already scheduled for the spring of 2019 and which she had had to delay, due to Covid, is therefore not really a surprise.
She certainly embarrassed the White House, but there was no question for Joe Biden to prevent her from going there.
Distrust of China remains one of the rare subjects of consensus in the United States: "Public opinion overwhelmingly supports Nancy Pelosi's approach", observes Jean-Pierre Cabestan, research director at the CNRS.
And the researcher points out: “There is a need on the American side to warn the Chinese against their desire to accelerate unification with Taiwan.
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