For one thing, Gingrich had three days of meetings in Beijing before stopping in Taipei, notes Ryan Hass, a Brookings fellow and former NSC director for China and Taiwan.
China’s relative strength has increased dramatically since then, as has the degree of deference it demands — particularly over Taiwan, which it claims is an integral part of its territory.
Then there’s Pelosi herself.

“The Chinese have very strong feelings about the speaker,” Hass tells Axios. Her public protest in Beijing over the Tiananmen Square massacre was more or less her “first foray on the national stage,” he notes.

She’s taken high-profile stands for decades on Tibet and other human rights issues that infuriate Beijing.

Now, she’s third in line to the presidency and expected to make the trip despite weeks of warnings of “serious consequences.” She hasn’t confirmed the visit, but several media outlets have. She’ll meet Taiwan’s president on Wednesday morning, per the FT.