United States politician Nancy Pelosi, while serving as the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, visited Taiwan (officially the Republic of China) on August 2, 2022.

[12][13][14] As Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Pelosi is second-in-line to the US presidency after the vice-president, making her the highest ranking US official to visit Taiwan since then.

[19] Pelosi's tour of Asia was announced on July 31, 2022, to "reaffirm America's unshakeable commitment to our allies and friends in the region", with an itinerary initially limited to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.

[21][22][23] White House Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council representative John Kirby said on the evening of August 1 (EDT) that China could respond with a missile launch near Taiwan or could conduct other military exercises to show its disapproval of the visit of an American politician.

As Russia wages its premeditated, illegal war against Ukraine, killing thousands of innocents – even children – it is essential that America and our allies make clear that we never give in to autocrats.

"[1][30] Upon Pelosi's arrival, both the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and opposition Kuomintang endorsed the visit[31] and Taipei 101 illuminated a welcome message for the delegation.

[36] While there, she was received by vice president of the Legislative Yuan, Tsai Chi-chang and addressed the legislature in a short speech, saying Taiwan was "one of the freest societies in the world".

[37][38] She proceeded to the Presidential Office Building and met with President Tsai Ing-wen, who awarded her the Order of Propitious Clouds (with Special Grand Cordon).

During the visit, they met with Wu'erkaixi, a former student leader of the Tiananmen Square protests, Lam Wing-kee, a dissident Hong Kong bookseller, and Lee Ming-che, a Taiwanese activist who was imprisoned in China[45][46] and Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa, the representative of the Tibet Office in Taiwan.

[47] In a press release, Pelosi declared that the visit "in no way contradicts longstanding United States policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, US-China Joint Communiques and the Six Assurances.

[51] However, on August 1, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that Pelosi had the right to visit Taiwan, adding that the United States would not be intimidated by China's expected escalation in response to the potential trip.

American politicians, officials, and analysts condemned the series of retaliatory measures that China undertook against Taiwan and the United States for the visit.

[58] Although Texas Senator Ted Cruz was absent from the joint statement,[59] he praised Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan while criticising Biden's lack of support.

The White House announced on August 4 that the Pentagon has directed the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to remain in the area near Taiwan "to monitor the situation" as China launches missiles in the region.

[70] Chinese ambassador Qin Gang delivered a firm formal complaint and expressed a vigorous objection to the White House National Security Council and the Department of State regarding the Pelosi' visit.

[78] According to the Japanese Ministry of Defense, this is the first time ballistic missiles launched by China had landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone and it lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing in response to the perceived transgression.

[87][88] Hu's Twitter account was temporarily suspended for violating the platform's commenting rules while Lu's remarks were condemned by American and European officials.

[94] China's Ministry of Commerce also imposed economic sanctions on Taiwan (effective from August 3, 2022) by suspending the export of natural materials like sand[95] and the import of Taiwanese products like fruits or fish.

[97][98][99] The ministry also suspended co-operation channels with the US on several fronts, including dialogue between military leaders, criminal-judicial assistance, combating transnational crimes, and climate change talks.

[128] Two op-eds also published by The New York Times took the opposing view: Bret Stephens praised Pelosi's decision to follow through with her trip despite the risks it carried, while Yu-Jie Chen, a professor at Academia Sinica, welcomed the visit as a valuable expression of solidarity in light of Taiwan's rising tensions with China.

[129][130] Writing for Intelligencer, Ross Barkan expressed sentiments similar to those in Friedman's op-ed, stating that there was "nothing immediately tangible that Pelosi can accomplish by going to Taiwan".

A Bastian said that the disinformation and cyberattacks connected to Pelosi's visit were part of a long-running campaign of information warfare that China has been conducting against Taiwan.

[136] Jonathan Lee, an academic at San Francisco State University, said that Pelosi's trip was unlikely to damage her high political standing amongst her Chinese American constituents as their concerns have primarily been focused on domestic issues and the voting bloc as a whole has leaned towards the Democratic Party.

[140] Yeh et al. noted that preceding survey research found that a visit by a group of U.S. senators in June 2021 "significantly increased" the confidence of Taiwanese respondents in the Taiwanese military, and that "the effects hold across different political groups, which suggests the impact of the visit by the U.S. senators wasn't the result of partisanship or nationalism within the survey sample.

"[140] Based on these and other findings, Yeh et al. suggested that the Pelosi visit "would probably significantly reassure the people of Taiwan, enhancing public support on the island for military and defense spending as well as U.S. strategic policy goals.

[138][144] The founder of Taiwan-based semiconductor company United Microelectronics Corporation, Robert Tsao pledged one hundred million US dollars to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense in the interest of "safeguarding freedom, democracy, and human rights.

[159] On April 5, 2023, President Tsai Ing-wen met with then US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, followed by a joint press conference.