Mitch McConnell and 25 Other Republicans Issue Statement Supporting Nancy Pelosi’s Trip to Taiwan
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In a rare show of bipartisan unity, more than half of the U.S. Senate’s Republican members released a statement on Tuesday supporting Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for defying Chinese threats and landing in Taiwan on an official visit.
“We support Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. For decades, members of the United States Congress, including previous Speakers of the House, have traveled to Taiwan,” the statement signed by Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reads, adding:
This travel is consistent with the United States’ One China policy to which we are committed. We are also committed now, more than ever, to all elements of the Taiwan Relations Act.
Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan has sparked loud condemnation from China, including threats aired on Chinese media to shoot down her plane if she attempts to land in the country, which China claims as sovereign territory.
Pelosi has a long history of defying the Chinese government and supporting pro-Democracy movements in the region.
In 1991 she angered the Chinese Communist Party by visiting Tiananmen Square and unfurling a banner honoring pro-democracy dissidents killed in the 1989 protests. In 2015, Pelosi took a group of House Democrats to Tibet, the first visit of its kind since widespread protests broke out there in 2008 as a result of Chinese crackdowns.
Some footage from the CNN archive of Pelosi unfurling a pro-democracy banner in Tiananmen Square in 1991 (alongside Reps. Ben Jones and John Miller) before Chinese officials interrupt pic.twitter.com/fmbSNry3bX
— Kevin Liptak (@Kevinliptakcnn) July 29, 2022
Here is a complete list of the Senators who signed on to the statement supporting Pelosi:
Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
John Thune (R-SD)
Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
Jim Risch (R-ID)
Roy Blunt (R-MO)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
John Barrasso (R-WY)
Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
Ben Sasse (R-NE)
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
Thom Tillis (R-NC)
Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)
Steve Daines (R-MT)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
Deb Fischer (R-NE)
Todd Young (R-IN)
Joni Ernst (R-IA)
Rob Portman (R-OH)
Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Richard Burr (R-NC)
John Boozman (R-AR)
Tim Scott (R-SC)
Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Pat Toomey (R-PA)
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