Pelosi and Biden, Taiwan and China

Naturally Mrs. Pelosi was requested about Mr. Biden’s remarks at her weekly presser. “I think what the President is saying,” she replied, is that “maybe the military was afraid our plane would get shot down or something like that by the Chinese. I don’t know exactly. I didn’t see it. I didn’t hear it. You’re telling me, and I’ve heard it anecdotally, but I haven’t heard it from the President.”

Yikes. The Pentagon fears China would possibly shoot down a U.S. plane carrying the particular person third line to the Presidency?

All of this adopted a warning Tuesday from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman

Zhao Lijian

that Mrs. Pelosi’s Taiwan journey would “have a severe negative impact” on U.S.-China relations and that China would “take strong and resolute measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Perhaps sensing U.S. weak point after Mr. Biden’s comment, on Thursday Foreign Ministry spokesman

Wang Wenbin

escalated: “Should the U.S. side insist on making the visit, China will act strongly to resolutely respond to it and take countermeasures. We mean what we say.”

Mrs. Pelosi’s journey would have symbolic significance as she can be the primary House Speaker to go to Taiwan in 25 years. It would ship a helpful message of solidarity with the island democracy. And now that each she and Mr. Biden have raised the prospect of a navy menace, any choice to remain residence would seem like a retreat below Chinese strain.

China would discover that its bullying threats succeeded, and so would U.S. allies in Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and others within the Asia-Pacific area that fear about U.S. endurance. The walk-back can be felt most acutely in Taiwan, the place the difficulty of U.S. assist within the case of invasion is existential. If China can cease a senior U.S. official from visiting Taiwan, how resolute is America going to be in a capturing conflict?

China isn’t prone to interdict Mrs. Pelosi’s plane, which might quantity to an act of conflict with dangers of escalation. But the general public babbling concerning the risk raises the possibility that her go to turns into a matter of saving face for China. This will increase the danger that China might take another motion in opposition to the U.S. or Taiwan in response.

Mrs. Pelosi nearly has to take the journey now, and we hope it’s uneventful. But perhaps the White House employees is on to one thing when it confines Mr. Biden to a teleprompter.