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Pelosi’s Last Cold War & The Griner Prisoner Dilemma

The Speaker’s trip to Taipei is the latest, and possibly the final hawkish turn in her three decade conflict with Beijing. (“She wants to stick it to China,” as one person put it.) Meanwhile in Washington, the Biden administration faces a lose-lose negotiation with Moscow.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lands in Taiwan
Pelosi lands in Taiwan. Photo: Taiwanese Foreign Ministry
Julia Ioffe
August 2, 2022

After weeks of speculation and fears that she might launch World War III, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi finally touched down Tuesday night in Taipei, for an official visit to Taiwan. Contrary to proposed scenarios, the Chinese military did not shoot down her plane, though they did proceed with live-fire military exercises in the Taiwan Strait over the weekend, and, this morning, sent military jets right up to the border, a demonstration of just how easily and quickly they could reach the island. A video allegedly taken in Fujian province, right across the water from Taiwan, appeared to show Chinese tanks rolling across the beach. China even banned imports of Taiwanese sweets as punishment for the Speaker’s visit.