Demonstration at Pelosi’s office 90 7th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 (between Market and Mission St) against her Taiwan visit – Monday, Aug. 1, at 11 am in San Francisco!

Pivot To Peace has called for a demonstration at Nancy Pelosi’s office, 90 7th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 (between Market and Mission Streets), on Monday, Aug. 1, at 11 am, to protest her proposed visit to Taiwan in August. Please see my original email below explaining the situation. This demo has been endorsed by Jodie Evans of Code Pink as well as the ANSWER Coalition. This is the first announcement of the demo and we are seeking other endorsements. If your organization would like to endorse, please email me at mikevfp69@gmail.com, and we will include your organization in our list of endorsers, thanks very much.
Please circulate this announcement far and wide.

Nancy Pelosi’s coming Taiwan visit may trigger a war with China.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s announced plans to visit Taiwan in August risks triggering a war with China. Starting with President Richard Nixon’s visit to China and the resulting Shanghai Communique, for fifty years, the United States, China, the government of Taiwan, an overwhelming majority of the world’s nations, and the United Nations have all officially agreed that there is only “One China,” that Taiwan island is a province of China, and that the issues between them should be settled by the Chinese themselves. This has been the bedrock foundation of peace between the US, Taiwan, and mainland China all these decades. This “One China policy” would be blatantly violated by the visit of such a high profile American official such as Pelosi, who is third in the line of succession to the presidency of the United States. Both the United States and China recognize the seriousness of this proposed trip; the US is talking about moving aircraft carriers to the region to provide security, and Chinese sources are talking about having China’s own aircraft escort Pelosi’s plane. The US and Chinese militaries have been holding rival military exercises and playing games of “chicken” with each other for years, but now there are warnings from prominent persons in both nations that this trip risks a serious and possibly deadly clash. Chinese spokesman Zhao Lijian said China was “seriously prepared” and “If the U.S. side is bent on going its own way, China will take strong measures to resolutely respond and counteract…. The United States should be held responsible for any serious consequences.” A former top Obama White House China expert, Evan Medeiros, recently said, “The Taiwan issue… could spark war—including nuclear war—between the two largest economies in the world.” Pelosi herself said, “… maybe the (US) military was afraid our plane would get shot down or something like that by the Chinese.”

At the same time, several key pieces in Asia have fallen into place for America to start a war there. President Yoon Suk-yeol was recently elected the new president of South Korea (by a thin margin and almost certainly with US and Korean CIA involvement), and he is a far right crazy of the John Bolton mode. Shinzo Abe, the immediate past prime minister of Japan was just assassinated, becoming a martyr whose death only strengthens his right wing party’s (the LDP) hand. They now have the votes, for the first time, to change Japan’s peace constitution and go to war. And President Tsai is a right winger in Taiwan who dances to America’s tune. Both the new leaders of Japan and South Korea are calling for their countries to participate in war if it should break out over Taiwan. And now the US has gotten NATO to name China as a threat and commit to support action against China.

The only piece not in place for war is Taiwan itself; polls show the majority of people just want to maintain the status quo, which was working for both sides, the mainland and Taiwan. Prior to the pandemic, trade and tourism both ways had been increasing continuously, and both sides benefited without either side having to give up anything. It was win-win and most people on both sides, and the mainland CPC government, would like to keep it that way. Also, Taiwan’s military is not ready for war, they have a draft but it only requires four months of service, then they just go into the reserve, which doesn’t even conduct regular training. Retired San Francisco judge Julie Tang, originally from Hong Kong and a cofounder of Pivot To Peace (https://peacepivot.org/ ) reported, “The loudest voice of opposition to her Taiwan trip is from Taiwan’s independent press. They are outraged. These folks understand how devastating it may mean to Taiwan.”
But internal conditions in Taiwan are not likely to change in the foreseeable future, so this is as good as it gets for the US, if war is the goal. Biden, Blinken, Nuland, and company can’t get it any better. They didn’t learn from their defeat in Afghanistan, seem blind to their impending disaster in Ukraine, and they continue to press on China. So while a war is not certain, the possibility of it is increasing.

At the same time, the White House is wavering on Pelosi’s visit, and different voices from the establishment are saying conflicting things and giving conflicting signals. With the US establishment divided, this is a critical moment in which a large peace movement push for peace – peaceful demonstrations at congressional offices and the White House, letters to editors of local newspapers, and other peace actions – may make a critical difference in tipping the balance towards peace rather than a devastating, possibly nuclear war. I urge all peace organizations and leaders to step boldly forward at this critical moment in time. Now is the time to take action to pull our country and our world back from the brink of war.

Resources for more information:
China threatens U.S. over Pelosi trip to Taiwan – CNBC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3vZbvCvRxY
China confirms warnings to U.S. on Pelosi’s possible Taiwan visit – Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-confirms-warnings-us-pelosis-possible-taiwan-visit-2022-07-25/
US considers deploying carriers to support House speaker’s Taiwan trip – Washington Post – World Socialist Web Site: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/07/25/ooce-j25.html
An American War Over Taiwan? – Pivot To Peace: https://peacepivot.org/an-american-war-over-taiwan-island/
Breakthrough News: Prof. Ken Hammond Discusses Pelosi’s Provocation of China over Taiwan: https://peacepivot.org/breakthrough-news-prof-ken-hammond-discusses-pelosis-provocation-of-china-over-taiwan/
Bottom line on Taiwan question will be shaped through fight with US: Chinese scholar: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202207/1271327.shtml