Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe criticized the Biden administration for its handling of speculation that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will visit Taiwan despite warnings by China.
The Trump-era spy chief argued Chinese President Xi Jinping is capitalizing on President Joe Biden’s “weakness” as Beijing and its mouthpieces in the media threatened severe consequences if Pelosi ends up visiting Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.
“It’s been mismanaged by the Biden administration,” Ratcliffe said on Sunday, responding in the affirmative to a question by Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo.
PELOSI MAKES NO MENTION OF TAIWAN IN ASIA TRIP ITINERARY
“And, to this point, she does need to go for the sake of our national security, so that the American people see that the Chinese Communist Party is not the one dictating American foreign policy, that it is the American government doing that, but the Biden administration publicly talking about it ahead of time and then not backing up Nancy Pelosi with the media or on the call with President Xi Jinping,” he added. “I mean, I think we have come to expect that President Biden, his weakness comes through. We didn’t have high expectations for that call, but, very clearly, he did not back up the speaker’s right to go to Taiwan, and, as a result, President Xi is acting on that weakness.”
Taiwan, known as the Republic of China, is an independent island nation off the coast of mainland China. The Chinese Communist Party has long sought to bring the territory under its control, while Taiwan is self-governed and receives U.S. defense support, despite not being formally recognized. U.S. relations with Taiwan became unofficial in 1979 after the United States agreed to establish diplomatic relations with the CCP-ruled Chinese mainland via the “one China” policy.
After a week of intense speculation that Pelosi would make a stop in Taiwan during a trip to Asia, the speaker has embarked on the journey, leading a congressional delegation. An itinerary released by Pelosi’s team includes stops in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan but leaves out any mention of a stop in Taiwan.
Chinese state media figures warned that Beijing would carry out “severe punishment” on Taiwan if Pelosi landed on the island, and a Chinese Foreign Ministry readout of a call between Biden and Xi claimed the Chinese leader warned his U.S. counterpart on the matter that “those who play with fire perish by it.”
The Biden administration, including Department of Defense officials, repeatedly said the decision was up to Pelosi, but President Joe Biden did say last week that the military was concerned about it. On Friday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said there’s “no reason” to “come to blows” if Pelosi visits Taiwan “because there’s been no change in American policy with respect to One China.”
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Ratcliffe, a former Republican congressman from Texas, said he agreed with an assessment by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who warned Xi is “watching” what the United States is prepared to do to assist its allies and that failing to help the Taiwanese people defend themselves will “only embolden” the Chinese leader. He also cited a report by the New York Times that said U.S. officials fear China will make a move on Taiwan in the next 18 months, which Ratcliffe stressed is “not a coincidence” that it would be at a time when Biden’s first term is not yet up.
After also bringing up the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ratcliffe stressed, “The fact that all three of these things are happening during the Biden administration really speaks to what a disaster he has been as a foreign policy president.”
