Former Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana who served as ambassador to China during the Obama administration (2014-2017), called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan a “provocation,” and added that it made President Biden look “weak.”
The politician warned that Pelosi’s trip was bringing the United States closer to recognizing Taiwan as an independent nation, which he said would be a disaster. “This is a provocation because the Chinese government is very opposed to this,” he said.
He emphasized that Pelosi’s visit was far more important than that of any other House member. Pelosi “is not just an ordinary member of Congress. To that we must add that he is a very strong falcon. He is very critical of China. Really, what this is doing is pushing support for democracy a little closer to crossing the line into independence. That’s the real problem here,” Baucus said.
Taiwan would not risk the “disaster” of formally declaring independence from China, he said, but China will react if Taiwan appears to be leaning toward what the government sees as an “existential” threat.
“We are playing with fire when we get pretty close to that line. Pelosi pushes us much, much closer to recognizing Taiwan as an independent country. And once we get there, we will pay a price,” Baucus said.
The former senator, who served with Biden for decades, also said Pelosi was making the president look weak to the Chinese, who “value power and strength above all else. So poor Joe Biden, he looks weak because he told Pelosi not to go and he looks weak to the Chinese. Or he’s weak because he told her not to go and she went anyway.”
Pelosi landed in Taipei on Tuesday after beginning her tour of Singapore with other members of Congress.
