Pelosi Backfire: Pentagon says China has Vastly Increased Military Presence Around Taiwan since Pelosi’s Visit

During a briefing this week, a Pentagon official said that China is creating a “new normal” of increased military intimidation of Taiwan. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island, China has vastly increased military activity near Taiwan and has even fired missiles over the country. The official even pointed at Pelosi’s visit for being a main cause of the increased Chinese threat.

“I don’t see an imminent invasion. I think what we do see is sort of the [People’s Republic of China] establishing kind of a new normal in terms of the level of military activity around Taiwan, following [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s] visit,” said the official

“We have seen them sort of trying to set this new normal, where [Taiwan Strait] centerline crossings have become increasingly sort of routinized,” the official said. “Those used to be something that the PRC reserved for relatively rare occasions when they wanted to send sort of more of a political signal.”

“That gives us a concern — even though we don’t see an imminent invasion, obviously — about sort of an elevated level of intimidating and coercive activity around Taiwan,” the official said.

Paul Crespo