The most recent crisis between the United States and China was triggered by one of the most influential officials in American politics today: Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
This Tuesday (2), she defied threats from Beijing when she paid a visit to Taiwan, a province considered rebellious by the Chinese regime. Number two in the line of succession, she is the highest-ranking American official to set foot in Taipei since 1997, when Republican Newt Gingrich, then in the same position as her, did so.
The possibility that Pelosi could land in Taiwan began to be raised in mid-July and was considered a provocation by China. The visit took on more certain contours after she embarked on a tour of Asian countries, prompting Beijing to threaten “assertive measures”.
The 82-year-old Democrat has been Speaker of the US House since 2019 and is in her second stint in office; in 2007, under George W. Bush, she had already been elected to the position, becoming the first woman to reach the post.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Pelosi comes from a family with a history of politics. Her father, Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., was mayor for 12 years after serving five terms in Congress, and her brother also made it to the Baltimore Executive.
After meeting her husband, Paul Pelosi, in college — they now have five children — she moved to San Francisco. She has represented a California city district for 35 years in Congress.
The link between Pelosi and China has gained a new chapter with the trip to Taiwan, but the tense relationship has been going on for a long time. In 1991, two years after the massacre of students in Tiananmen Square, the American left an official delegation that was visiting the country to go to the place, where she displayed anti-Beijing posters. The episode is called by the Chinese a “premeditated farce”.
Years later, she was against holding the 2008 Olympic Games in China and, before the opening, asked then-President George W. Bush to make a diplomatic boycott of the ceremony. A similar episode would take place in 2022, with the call for a new boycott of the Winter Olympics in the Chinese capital – which was finally confirmed.
Another tense moment with China came in 2002, during a meeting with then-Chinese deputy leader Hu Jintao. At the time, Pelosi tried to deliver four letters expressing concern about the arrest of activists in China and Tibet. Hu refused to receive the mail.
In 2009, the congresswoman delivered a new letter into the hands of the Chinese leader, calling for the release of political prisoners, including future Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.
Friction with Trump and Republicans
Although her trip to Taiwan has received support even from the opposition, Pelosi has been a constant target of Republicans. When she returned as Speaker of the House in 2019, she led the opposition to then-President Donald Trump in Congress.
One of the most symbolic moments of the conflicted relationship took place in February 2020, when he tore up a copy of a speech given by Trump after the end of his speech – without making any attempt to disguise it.
The gesture was seen as a response to an act of the republican moments before: when receiving him in the pulpit, she extended her hand to greet him, but he didn’t respond, withdrawing her hand quickly and shrugging her shoulders, embarrassed.
During her term, Pelosi led the approval of two impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump, in 2019 and 2021. In both, the Senate decided for acquittal.
Role in the Biden Administration
Pelosi’s political performance is recognized by progressive positions. In the George W. Bush administration, she was against the Iraq War. The congresswoman is also an advocate of abortion rights and called the recent decision by the US Supreme Court to suspend the federal guarantee to the procedure cruel.
In the Biden administration, he led the House in designing and enacting economic recovery plans from the pandemic.
The current position of influence in American politics, however, may come up against an issue that seems to bother Democrats: age. A recent poll by The New York Times showed that party voters expect renewal in politics and younger leadership.
This is, by the way, a point of friction with Biden himself, who is 79 years old and the oldest president in office.
