House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan carries undeniable risks. Beijing could respond by harassing U.S. Navy ships and aircraft in the area, with a distinct potential for collision or confrontation. It could seize the (largely demilitarized) Taiwanese island of Kinmen — better known to aficionados of the Cold War as Quemoy — which lies just a few miles off the Fujian coast. It could lend Moscow a hand in the war in Ukraine, perhaps by selling it the kinds of precision munitions the Russian military is reportedly running low on.
Bret Stephens: Good for Pelosi; we can’t back down from a bully
August 9, 2022