National Review Praises Pelosi for Standing up to ‘Bully’ China

Sarah RumpfAug 1st, 2022, 1:54 pm
 
speaker nancy pelosi

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

The writers and editors of National Review are not normally considered to be members of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) fan club, but they’ve lauded her for her plans to visit Taiwan in multiple posts over the past few days, saying she is taking a strong stance against “bully” China.

“Pelosi Must Go to Taiwan” declared the headline of a commentary from the conservative website’s editorial board last Wednesday, describing the planned trip as a “consequential visit,” and “a critical symbol of support as Beijing ratchets up its pressure on Taipei.”

The Biden administration’s efforts to dissuade her from the visit were foolish, they continued, urging “Pelosi must forge ahead.”

“Much as we disagree with the speaker on most issues, on this question she has been stalwart,” the editors concluded. “Pelosi, by making this trip against the background of Chinese threats, would do a service to her country, Taiwan, and all nations with an interest in resisting a totalitarian party-state’s military aggression. She must go to Taiwan.”

Jim Geraghty echoed the editors’ views with a Monday morning column headlined “Pelosi Stands Up to the Bully in Beijing.”

“The issue of whether she should visit that country,” wrote Geraghty, “raises big and consequential questions about when and where the U.S. is willing to stand up to a bully. A lot of people in this world like to think that they’re brave, tough, and willing to act against injustice but start looking for excuses once the consequences of taking a stand get high enough.”

The furor over Pelosi’s planned trip had brought new attention to video clips of Pelosi from 1991, in which she was an outspoken critic of China’s communist government, specifically regarding the 1989 crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square, Geraghty noted.

Pelosi views herself as a “progressive hawk” on China, and Geraghty acknowledged that in addition to her criticism of the brutal oppression in the aftermath of the Tiananmen protests, she also opposed giving China most-favored-nation trading status.

It is often easier said than done to stand up to bullies, and that’s especially true in politics, Geraghty continued, delving at length into various problematic actors on the world stage like Russia’s Vladimir Putin. “The Chinese government is obviously a bully,” her wrote, “but not every American wants to stand up to Xi Jinping, because a lot of economically and socially powerful Americans have a lot of money at stake in a continued partnership with China.”

The speaker’s stance on China — assuming she does in fact follow through on her plans to visit Taiwan — cut through partisan issues and earned her respect on this issue, wrote Geraghty. “Conservatives rarely applaud Pelosi, but her willingness to visit Taiwan — and to tell the Chinese government in Beijing to go pound sand if it doesn’t like her making the trip — is one of those rare times when they do.”

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.