Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan tramples on international law, marks another debacle of US credibility

Cartoon by Ma Hongliang.

On Aug. 2, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi made a provocative visit to China’s Taiwan region, regardless of the U.S. commitment to not engage in any official interactions with China’s Taiwan region. Pelosi’s visit, which has infringed on international law and norms governing international relations, is undoubtedly a political farce.

Taiwan has been an inseparable part of China’s territory for 1,800 years. The Cairo Declaration issued by China, the U.S. and the U.K. in 1943 stated that all of the territories Japan had stolen from China, including Taiwan, should be restored to China.

The Potsdam Proclamation signed in 1945 reiterated that the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out. In 1971, the United Nations General Assembly recognized that the representatives of the government of the People’s Republic of China are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations.

In 1972, the U.S. stated clearly in the Shanghai Communiqué that “the United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States Government does not challenge that position.”

In 1978, the U.S. clearly pledged in the China-US Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations that “the United States of America recognizes the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China and acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China.”

In 1982, the US clearly promised in the Joint Communiqué of the People's Republic of China and the United States of America that “the United States of America recognized the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China, and it acknowledged the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China,” and that “the United States Government...reiterates that it has no intention of infringing on Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity, or interfering in China’s internal affairs, or pursuing a policy of ‘two Chinas’ or ‘one China, one Taiwan’.”

The three joint communiqués constituted the political foundation of stable China-US relations during the past more than four decades.

Pelosi is the third-highest ranking political figure in the U.S. government. Her visit to Taiwan, serving the interests of her own family and her political party, and financed by U.S. taxpayers’ money, has exposed the hypocrisy and ugly nature of Washington and is another debacle of U.S. credibility.