As Beijing has erupted in anguished fury at Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, the Speaker herself noted that a similar visit from an all-male delegation of US senators earlier this year failed to elicit such a firestorm.
‘They made a big fuss because I’m the speaker, I guess. I don’t know if that was a reason or an excuse,’ she said during a press conference with the Taiwanese president. ‘Because they didn’t say anything when the men came.’
Senators Lindsey Graham (R, SC), Bob Menendez (D, NJ), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, lead a six-member group of US senators on the trip. They traveled on a US Air Force jet, meaning the Biden administration had sanctioned the trip.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called the April visit ‘condescending’ and ‘irresponsible’ at the time – a far cry from the rage and fury and live-fire military exercises that Pelosi’s visit has drawn.
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