Breach of one-China principle criticized

The United States has violated the one-China principle with the Taiwan visit of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a move that jeopardizes peace and stability in the region and beyond, say experts and officials from around the world.

Erik Solheim, a former undersecretary-general of the United Nations, said that at a time when the world is striving to come to grips with geopolitical tensions and food and energy shortages caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, leaders should solve problems rather than create additional ones.

“Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan is reckless, disrespectful and completely unnecessary. It helps no one, least of all the people living on the island of Taiwan,” Solheim, a Norwegian politician, told China Daily.

Rana Mitter, a professor of modern Chinese history and politics at the University of Oxford, said Asia is the most economically dynamic area of the world and will be crucial to creating growth.

“It’s very important that conditions are created for stable, free, and open trade and interaction between all peoples and societies in the region. Recent events remind us all that peace and prosperity go hand in hand,” he said.

Kishore Mahbubani, a distinguished fellow of the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore, said that Pelosi “is stirring up troubles in a very, very sensitive” Taiwan question and her visit “has made things much worse”.

“We should try to preserve the peace and calm in the Taiwan Straits,” he told Euronews on Wednesday, adding that is what all Asian nations want.

The former permanent representative of Singapore to the UN said that the best thing to do is to keep the status quo, and then peace will continue.

Mahbubani told the BBC on Tuesday that Pelosi “is only interested in her personal political fortunes”.

“She is utterly indifferent to the fact that her actions will create in the long run steps toward World War III,” said the author of several books on China and China-US relations.

“This is why it’s so reckless and dangerous. I think the West and the world should pay more attention to this,” Mahbubani said.

He said those who question China’s seriousness about Taiwan have never studied Chinese history.

In Africa, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Media, Information and Broadcasting Service, Christopher Mutsvangwa, said his country “stands fully behind” China “in the face of the intrusive, imprudent and provocative visit” by Pelosi.

‘Direct violation’

He said that the visit is “in direct violation” of the one-China principle and is “triggering tension between the US and China”.

“Efforts, conduct and behavior that offend the one-China principle will inevitably lead to tension and may even cause conflict between the two leading economies of the world. The visit of Pelosi risks igniting military conflict,” he said in comments published by the Harare-based The Herald on Thursday.

“We call upon Washington to be true and honest to the one-China principle and desist from brewing needless tension through stoking and fanning separatist tendencies on the island of Taiwan,” Mutsvangwa said.

The Friends of Socialist China group, in a statement, condemned Pelosi’s “reckless” trip to the island.

“Her visit to Taiwan is a major political provocation that carries with it a grave danger of leading to regional and even world war,” the statement said.

Ian Bremmer, president of the New York-based Eurasia Group, said that US President Joe Biden, as the nation’s commander-in-chief, could have stopped Pelosi if he really wanted to because she used a military plane on her trip.

“He chose not to. He didn’t want that confrontation with Pelosi, so now he is going to have it with the Chinese,” Bremmer said in a podcast.