Any harm to Nancy Pelosi from china means war: Lawmakers say

• Michael Waltz says Biden must support Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan trip.
• China has threatened to shoot down Nancy Pelosi’s plane.
• Waltz argued the White House is diplomatically dithering at a key moment.

President Biden must make it clear to China that any harm done to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during her visit to Taiwan would be “tantamount to a declaration of war,” Republican Florida lawmaker and veteran Green Beret commander Michael Waltz said on Fox News on Friday.

After the Financial Times revealed that Pelosi would visit the Chinese-claimed island nation next month, China’s leadership threatened that it would take “forceful measures.”

Former Global Times chief editor Hu Xijin dubbed Pelosi’s plan to visit an “invasion,” and urged shooting down the speaker’s plane if it was escorted to Taiwan by US fighters.

“This is unnecessary rhetoric,” a US government official stated, “and the US policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged.”

On “The Story” on Friday, Waltz stated that the Biden administration needs to take a much tougher line with China and unambiguously support Pelosi.

This is an unacceptable threat. Speaker Pelosi, regardless of what you think of our politics, is the number three in line for the presidency of the United States,” Waltz said, arguing the White House is again diplomatically dithering at a key moment.

“Once again, we see the Biden White House failing to be clear on what the United States finds acceptable and unacceptable — and in this case, need to make it clear that should any harm come to Speaker Pelosi and her trip to Taiwan, it’s tantamount to a declaration of war,” he said.

“That’s the kind of clarity we need from the commander-in-chief right now. And we’re just not getting it.”

Waltz said that, regardless of what conservatives think of the left-wing Democratic Party leader’s beliefs when a US government figure is endangered by an opposing force, all parties must unify.

President Xi Jinping, who faces a historic third term in office at the forthcoming Communist Party Congress, believes he cannot be embarrassed by the US, according to Waltz, since China claims ownership of Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China.

According to Waltz, Pelosi backing down or the White House convincing her to stay home would be a propaganda victory for Xi and a silent but obvious diplomatic overture to Indo-Pacific U.S. allies like the Republic of Korea, Australia, and Japan that the US might not have their back if they, too, are threatened by Xi.

“What I wanted to see from Biden was a clearer statement, a policy shift. He slipped in this regard when he was in Japan, where he said absolutely we’ll defend Taiwan. Then his staff walked it back,” he said.

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