(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) After an ill-advised visit to Taiwan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview that China is “one of the freest societies in the world,” in a possible gaffe, or actual delusion.
In the interview with Savannah Guthrie, Pelosi was asked about her trip and gave her thoughts on the escalating Chinese military action towards Taiwan, NBC reported.
In response, Pelosi said that her visit was not representative of any changes in the Biden administration’s commitment to the “One China Policy,” and they are still of the belief that Taiwan is a territory of China.
“We didn’t go [to Taiwan] to change our policy, we still support the One China Policy, we go there to acknowledge the status quo is what our policy is—there is nothing disruptive about that,” Pelosi told Guthrie.
“It was only about saying China is one of the freest societies in the world—don’t take it from me, that’s from Freedom House. It’s a strong democracy, courageous people, and it’s just—I don’t know why it is—except there’s some commercial interests who would like to diminish the relationship.”
Taiwan is ranked as one of the freest nations in the world by Freedom House; however, China is one of the least free, which lends to the idea that this could be a gaffe on Pelosi’s part.
During and after Pelosi’s visit to the island nation, China has made threatening military action towards Taiwan, despite the United States’ insistence on the One Nation Policy.
That insistence has come under scrutiny several times, as many U.S officials, including President Joe Biden, have said it may be necessary to defend Taiwan militarily if China attempted to take it over by force.
As usual, the White House clean up crew had to come through to swab the situation with a statement:
“He reiterated our One China Policy and our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” a White House spokesperson told Fox News of Biden’s pledge to defend Taiwan militarily.
“He also reiterated our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with the military means to defend itself.”
