U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s swing through Asia aimed to convey the U.S.’s "strong and unshakable” support for the region. It ended up leaving many countries in stunned silence as China conducted unprecedented military drills around Taiwan.
The shockwaves from the highest-level U.S. visit to Taiwan in a quarter century are still reverberating around the region days after she flew back to Washington. China’s military has extended exercises designed to show an ability to encircle the island and cut off the Taiwan Strait, one of the world’s busiest trade routes, days after launching missiles that likely flew over Taipei and into waters Japan claims as an exclusive economic zone.
On its own, such a display would normally generate widespread condemnation of China. But many governments also saw Pelosi’s visit as a step too far — and they don’t want to get caught in the middle.