“Any member who wants to go should do so. It shows political deterrence for President Xi,” said Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who had to decline to due to a scheduling conflict. “But I should also pay attention to the military if it’s going to cause a backlash and escalate things.”
Mr. Biden, who has angered China several times since taking office by saying he would use force to defend Taiwan, said last week that the military thought it was the wrong time for Ms. Pelosi to leave. There has been talk of possible dangers, even speculation that China would send warplanes to shadow its plane. Some on Capitol Hill see this as an effort by the White House to pressure Ms. Pelosi to cancel any such trip, the first by a speaker in 25 years, but Republicans and some Democrats have urged her to go ahead forward instead of leaving it. Beijing dictates US actions.
Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters traveling with him in Australia on Wednesday that he will provide security for any trip the speaker makes, as the military traditionally does. “If a decision is made that Speaker Pelosi or anyone else will travel and they request military support, we will do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety of their visit,” he said.
The conflict comes as the United States is trying to compete more vigorously with China economically and politically. The Senate on Wednesday approved a measure to invest in semiconductor production to revive American industry and reduce dependence on Chinese products. Representative Adam B. Schiff, a senior Democrat from California, introduced separate legislation on Wednesday that would authorize the Biden administration to impose sanctions on Chinese officials or entities aiding Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Those actions have fueled resentment in Beijing, analysts said. “The Chinese see Washington as intentionally provoking a crisis,” said Susan A. Thornton, a senior fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center and a long-career diplomat who has worked on Asian politics. “I’m not sure what Biden could say that would convince them otherwise.”
But China has reacted more aggressively than in the past. Ms Pelosi first announced a plan to go to Taiwan in April only to postpone it after testing positive for the coronavirus, and Beijing took little notice at the time. In addition, a succession of other high-level Americans have visited recently, including senior members of Congress and two former defense secretaries, Jim Mattis and Mark T. Esper, without sparking a crisis.