The Right Stuff: Pelosi and her high horse diplomacy

By Roger Oberbeck: Solano Voices, published August 15,2022

Article II of the U.S. Constitution grants the president the power to make treaties and appoint ambassadors with the advice and consent of the Senate. The executive branch of government is tasked with the de jure role of official recognition of countries and the conducting of diplomacy.

Nancy Pelosi, as speaker of the House of Representatives, has no de jure power to conduct diplomacy. One can argue she did just that with her visit in a U.S. government plane. China might see Pelosi’s visit as poking a tiger with a sharp stick. You don’t actually hurt it, but you piss it off.

The United States does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. “The United States has a longstanding policy on China, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three U.S.-China joint communiqués, and the Six Assurances. We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side, we do not support Taiwan independence and we expect cross strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means. We continue to have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”[...read more]