Speaker 1: Let's get more now on what you were talking about
Speaker 1: with your top story. The US how speaking, Nancy Pelosi
Speaker 1: to visit Asian countries, including here in Singapore and Japan,
Speaker 1: but her office has made no mention of a stopover
Speaker 1: in Taiwan. Joining us to discuss is Samson Ellis Taipei
Speaker 1: Bureau Chief. Uh. Sam, you know, we're just waiting to
Speaker 1: see whether or not Nancy Pelosi will defy these Chinese
Speaker 1: warnings with a stop in Taiwan. Tell us the latest here,
Speaker 1: as we don't have any kind of indication on her
Speaker 1: itinery that that's actually going to happen. Well, that is
Speaker 1: precisely the big question we're all trying to answer here,
Speaker 1: Will she come to Taiwan or not? So she finally
Speaker 1: released the official itinerary of her trip yesterday that includes
Speaker 1: Singapore first of all, Malaysia Career, and Japan. But obviously
Speaker 1: the question is is Taiwan going to be added to
Speaker 1: the trip as an unofficial stop. Um. So, there was
Speaker 1: a lot of eyes on her trip to Asia over
Speaker 1: the weekend, and SPA nineteen was the key aircraft identifier.
Speaker 1: Tens of thousands of people were watching on flight radar
Speaker 1: over the weekend to see if it veered towards Taiwan.
Speaker 1: It ended up not doing so. I mean, it did
Speaker 1: switch off its tracker for a while, leaving everybody watching
Speaker 1: rather disappointed. But when it did turn its transponder on again,
Speaker 1: it was landing in Singapore. UM, so obviously she didn't
Speaker 1: land in Taiwan on her way to Asia or arriving
Speaker 1: in Asia. But so they are. Now. The question is
Speaker 1: whether or not she's going to stop off in Taiwan
Speaker 1: on the way out, maybe after she visits Japan on Thursday. Sam,
Speaker 1: I think it's fair to say that the US has
Speaker 1: been frustrated by Beijing's refusal to condemn the war in Ukraine.
Speaker 1: And I'm wondering whether or not you think, as Pelosi
Speaker 1: takes the delegation to places like Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea,
Speaker 1: and Japan, whether the conversation is going to focus on Taiwan,
Speaker 1: and whether or not she is just making sure that
Speaker 1: those US um friends, let's call them friends at this point,
Speaker 1: are willing to stand behind any message that needs to
Speaker 1: be sent to Beijing from the US perspective as it
Speaker 1: applies to Taiwan. Well, Asia is very much divided on
Speaker 1: this issue. You typically have nations in Southeast Asia who
Speaker 1: are a little bit more circumspect in offering support to
Speaker 1: Taiwan because they are much more dependent on China for
Speaker 1: trade and manufacturing and you know, the economic TiSER so
Speaker 1: much more important to them. And then you have the
Speaker 1: likes of Japan, which has largely been relatively neutral on
Speaker 1: the Taiwan issue, but over the past two years there's
Speaker 1: been a real significant shift in how Japan is willing
Speaker 1: to publicly state its support for for Taiwan UM and
Speaker 1: the fact that you know, the securety of the Taiwan
Speaker 1: straight equals Japan's national security too, so they've um they
Speaker 1: really are a little bit of an outlier in Asia,
Speaker 1: and their willingness to say things about Taiwan that you know,
Speaker 1: possibly risk annoying Beijing. UM. And so definitely there's a
Speaker 1: there's a there's different stances across Asia about how the
Speaker 1: US interacts with Taiwan and the willingness to speak out
Speaker 1: in favor of it. What is the reaction from the
Speaker 1: people in Taiwan to this, you know, potential trip and
Speaker 1: would a trip to Taiwan from Nancy Pelosi actually benefit Taiwan? Well,
Speaker 1: it's been very interesting to watch the reaction here in Taiwan.
Speaker 1: It's been a collective shrug. To be perfectly honest. It
Speaker 1: has not dominated the news cycle at all over the
Speaker 1: last week really. I mean, it's been in the news,
Speaker 1: but it hasn't been the top story throughout UM. And
Speaker 1: it really is seen as a you know, partially because
Speaker 1: there are questions about whether this trip really is in
Speaker 1: Taiwan's best interests um. You know, it does it bring
Speaker 1: any concrete benefit to Taiwan, um. You know, in some
Speaker 1: ways it does create a bit of a headache for Taiwan.
Speaker 1: You know, it thrust Taiwan very much into the global limelight. Uh.
Speaker 1: And Taiwan isn't really able to you know, Taiwan always
Speaker 1: welcomes international recognition or or a little bit of you know,
Speaker 1: it's time in the lightline limelight in the international stage
Speaker 1: because it is typically denied a lot of participation in
Speaker 1: international affairs UM. And so they welcome all of these
Speaker 1: kinds of trips. But it becomes very difficult for Taiwan
Speaker 1: to then like push back potentially on the United States
Speaker 1: and say, hey, actually, is this in our best interest
Speaker 1: right now? You know, do we really need to have
Speaker 1: respond to an angry re action from China to this trip.
Speaker 1: But on the other side, you know what Pelosi's trip
Speaker 1: does do is it does demonstrate continued, on going strong
Speaker 1: US support for Taiwan from across the US political spectrum.
Speaker 1: Is there's not just an executive issue that on the
Speaker 1: legendstive of sides, Taiwan does enjoy incredibly strong support in
Speaker 1: the US at a time when President Biden is hoping
Speaker 1: to have a face to face meeting with Chinese President
Speaker 1: Chi Junping. I mean, it was last week that Biden
Speaker 1: essentially supported the One China policy. So this is a
Speaker 1: very difficult piece of real estate for the US to
Speaker 1: try to negotiate, no doubt, and I think it's become
Speaker 1: quite clear over the past two weeks that there is
Speaker 1: a little bit of there's not unity on the U
Speaker 1: s side about this trip that the White House would
Speaker 1: have may be preferred it not to happen, especially right now. Um.
Speaker 1: And then you know, obviously there's the question of how
Speaker 1: much that's understood in beiging that you know, this division
Speaker 1: of powers, and that the White House cannot order Pelosi
Speaker 1: to back off the trip. Um they simply don't have
Speaker 1: the power to do so. Nanti Plosi is obviously very
Speaker 1: much her own woman, and if she wants to go,
Speaker 1: she's going to go, all right. We will continue to monitor.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much too, Bloomberg Sampson llis Taipei Bureau
Speaker 1: chief with us from Taipei.