A peaceful demonstration was scheduled in front of the Embassy of the United States of America, in Lisbon. It will take place on August 22nd and aims to condemn, according to Y Ping Chow, president of the League of Chinese in Portugal, the climate of instability that US policy created when it arrived in Taiwan on August 2nd.
Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan two weeks ago continues to send a lot of ink around the world. Now it’s time for the same thing to happen in Portugal, specifically the League of Chinese, which is organizing a demonstration against the trip of the president of the House of Representatives of the United States of America, for the 22nd of August.
Y Ping Chow, president of the association, is in charge of this demonstration and highlighted the reasons in a statement. “The signatories and supporters of this demonstration want to freely and peacefully express their protest at the visit of Mrs Nancy Pelosi, as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, to the Chinese province of Taiwan, which Chinese diplomacy legitimately opposed, because in the light of that resolution and the agreements established with the US, it represents a violation of China’s sovereignty”, reads the request for a demonstration made to the Portuguese authorities, where it is also stressed that it will be “organized, with slogans and flags”.
In conversation with PLATFORMA, however, the president of the League of Chinese went a little further on the reasons that led the association to move forward with this means of protest. “Nancy Pelosi’s trip didn’t just create tension in China and Taiwan. As seen around the world, this visit left the whole planet in tension, it created instability that was not necessary”, began by saying Y Ping Chow, who now asks for more serenity.
“Right now, what there cannot be, in the world, is even more instability. There is a war right now that is creating an economic crisis and adding to that even more instability is a mistake. Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan created just that and this will unfortunately be reflected in trade, trade and who will lose is the people and companies that have been fighting so much against the economic crisis resulting from the war”, mentioned one of the main faces of the Portuguese community in Portugal.
Still without concrete numbers to give about the elements that will be present in the demonstration next Monday, Y Ping Chow believes that it will have relevance. “The only thing I can say at the moment is that we have several defined presences, among the Chinese associations and there are also Portuguese who have also revealed their willingness to be in the peaceful demonstration. We do not want, nor will we, cause riots. It will only be a gesture, a way of saying that this type of tension is not necessary and is perfectly avoidable”, concluded the leader.
In the statement released and sent to the Mayor of Lisbon and the Ministry of Internal Administration last weekend, Y Ping Chow, who signed it, also stresses that “this visit caused insecurity and conflict in the Taiwan Strait and in the region. , and defies the global consensus established by the United Nations of non-interference in the internal affairs of countries”, say the proponents. “The principle of One China is the premise and foundation for the establishment and development of diplomatic relations between China and the US”, justifies the organization, which, hopes to gather 1,000 people in the protest, to be held on Monday, August 22, from 4 pm.
Nancy Pelosi’s Visit
Nancy Pelosi was thus the mainstay of the biggest recent crisis between the United States of America and China, after her visit to Taiwan on August 2nd.
A meeting with the local government that did not last even 24 hours, but enough to raise a wave of criticism from China and the Xi Jinping government.
“This [Joe Biden’s] US Government has repeatedly promised to uphold the one-China policy and stop supporting ‘Taiwan independence. However, recent actions and statements have gone the opposite way of these promises. Any unjust attempt to reverse history, make Taiwan a problem or jeopardize China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is doomed to failure and will have a price to pay.” of Pelosi with the agencies of Taiwan.
The Chinese government had already expressed that it was against the visit to Taiwan, which, by the way, it considers part of its territory, and after the visit it promised strong retaliation. The first came in the form of sanctions, with Beijing suspending imports of items such as fruit and fish products from the autonomous island, as well as halting exports of natural sand to Taiwan.
After these measures, and a few hours after Nancy Pelosi’s plane left Taiwan, China scheduled a series of military exercises around Taiwan, in what is considered one of the largest (live-fire) military exercises in the last 30 years.
However, Nancy Pelosi was unfazed by Chinese threats and within hours of these measures, she too pledged support to Taiwan. “Make no mistake: the United States remains unwavering in its commitment to the people of Taiwan – now and for decades to come,” wrote the Speaker of the House of Representatives on her social media.
A central character of this ‘film’, Nancy Pelosi became, in 2007, the first woman to preside over the United States House, and in 2019, and after a few years of absence, she returned to the same position. Described as an “icon of female power” in the United States and a prominent name in the Democratic Party, Pelosi is 82 years old and second in line to Joe Biden, after Kamala Harris.
