China Escalates Taiwan Threats
We ran the numbers: There are 2,160 news articles covering this topic. 25% (546) are left-leaning, 56% (1,210) are centrist, and 19% (404) are right-leaning.
China continues to escalate its threats against Taiwan after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) visited the island nation. While left-leaning articles focus on potential Chinese invasions into Taiwan, right-leaning articles focus on Pelosi’s reactions to Chinese escalation.
A left-leaning article from The Washington Post discusses how Foreign Minister of Taiwan Joseph Wu called Beijing’s military exercises after Pelosi’s trip a “serious provocation” and that “China has used the drills in its military playbook to prepare for invasion of Taiwan.” Wu cited Beijing's military exercises, missile launches, cyberattacks, and trade sanctions as “an attempt to weaken public morale in Taiwan.”
The Hill published a centrist article critiquing the Biden administration’s handling of Pelosi’s Taiwan trip, stating that Biden’s “situational unawareness and his reliance on a subordinate’s opinion about the trip’s advisability suggested unpresidential weakness and indecision.” The article also notes that Biden has continued to offer concessions to China.
A right-leaning article from Fox News discusses how Pelosi has denied any role in China’s increased aggression towards Taiwan, pointing to an unannounced April trip from a group of five bipartisan senators to Taipei. The House Speaker stated that “If they can ignore a trip of five senators…why would they decide on my trip that it would be different?” Pelosi also stated that Chinese President Xi Jinping “acts like a bully” with “insecurities.”