“Any member who wants to go should. It shows political deterrence on the part of President Xi,” said Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who had to recuse himself because of a scheduling conflict. “But she needs to pay attention to the military as well, if that’s going to backfire and escalate things.”
Mr. Biden, who has angered China repeatedly since taking office by saying he would use force to defend Taiwan, said last week that the military believed it was the wrong time for Ms. Pelosi to leave. There was talk of possible danger, even speculation that China would send military planes to monitor her plane. Some on Capitol Hill saw it as a helpless effort by the White House to pressure Ms. Pelosi to cancel such a trip, the first by a speaker in 25 years, but Republicans and some Democrats urged her to follow through rather than let Beijing dictate American action.
Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters traveling with him in Australia on Wednesday that he would provide security for any trip the speaker made, as the armed forces traditionally do. “If a decision is made that Speaker Pelosi or anyone else will travel and they request military support, we will do what is necessary to ensure that their visit is conducted safely,” he said.
The conflict comes as the United States seeks to compete more vigorously with China economically and politically. On Wednesday, the Senate passed a measure to invest in semiconductor manufacturing to revive American industry and reduce dependence on Chinese products. Congressman Adam B. Schiff, a top Democrat from California, introduced separate legislation on Wednesday that would allow the Biden administration to impose sanctions on Chinese officials or organizations aiding Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Those actions fueled discontent in Beijing, analysts said. “The Chinese see Washington as deliberately provoking a crisis,” said Susan A. Thornton, a senior fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School and a longtime career diplomat who has worked on Asia policy. “I’m not sure what Biden could say that would convince them otherwise.”
But China has responded more aggressively than in the past. Ms. Pelosi first announced a plan to go to Taiwan in April, only to postpone it after she tested positive for the coronavirus, and Beijing paid little attention at the time. Moreover, a series of other high-profile Americans have visited recently, including senior members of Congress and two former defense secretaries, Jim Mattis and Mark T. Esper, without provoking a crisis.
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