Democrat Mary Peltola is projected to win the Alaska special general election for the state’s sole House seat, ABC News reports.
Peltola defeated two Republicans -- former Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Nick Begich -- and will be the first Democrat to represent the state in the House in nearly half a century, succeeding Rep. Don Young, who died in March.
Peltola will also be the first Alaska Native to represent the state in Congress.
Begich had been knocked out under the ranked-choice rules; Peltola defeated Palin about 51-49%.
“What’s most important is that I’m an Alaskan being sent to represent all Alaskans. Yes, being Alaska Native is part of my ethnicity, but I’m much more than my ethnicity,” Peltola said following the announcement of the results according to the Anchorage Daily News.
The election, which was called on Wednesday some two weeks after voting ended, was historic for a more technical reason: It was the first Alaska race that used ranked-choice ballots.
The process -- which advocates said would encourage more consensus-building but Palin criticized as "convoluted" -- worked like this: If a candidate in the election had initially won more than 50% of first-choice votes, they would have won the race outright. That didn't happen in the special race on Aug. 17. (Peltola initially ended up with about 40%.)
Then, the candidate with the least amount of first-place votes -- Begich -- was eliminated and that candidate's voters instead had their ballots redistributed to their second choice until one candidate got at least 50%.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Peltola is an indigenous Yup-ik Alaskan and former member of the Alaska House of Representatives. As a state lawmaker, she chaired the bipartisan Bush Caucus of rural politicians. In addition, she served in the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission before leaving for her congressional campaign.
On the trail, she prioritized climate change, responsible resource development and infrastructure for airports, ferries, highways and energy grids.
Peltola will only serve the remainder of Young’s term, which ends in January. She is on the ballot again in November -- along with Palin and Begich -- to try and win a full two-year term.
In a statement Wednesday, Palin repeated her criticism of ranked-choice voting, saying it "was sold as the way to make elections better reflect the will of the people" but that it has the "opposite" effect.
She said that "though we’re disappointed in this outcome, Alaskans know I’m the last one who’ll ever retreat. Instead, I’m going to reload. With optimism that Alaskans learn from this voting system mistake and correct it in the next election, let’s work even harder to send an America First conservative to Washington in November."
#Democrat #Mary #Peltola #defeats #Sarah #Palin #special #election #Alaskas #House #seat
https://www.globalcourant.com/democrat-mary-peltola-defeats-sarah-palin-in-special-election-for-alaskas-house-seat/?feed_id=18555&_unique_id=6310172a9de37
Alaska special election results show Democrat Mary Peltola, Yup'ik, as the winner with 51.47 percent vs. 48.53 percent for Sarah Palin. That makes Peltola both the 1st woman to hold Alaska's sole Congressional seat and the 1st Alaska Native Representative to Congress.
— ICT (@IndianCountry) September 1, 2022
Correction: This report has been updated to correctly describe the area of Maloney's former congressional district.
Source
https://www.globalcourant.com/jerry-nadler-beats-carolyn-maloney-in-ny-house-democratic-primary/?feed_id=14999&_unique_id=6305a1ae05c57
A former speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives and his chief of staff were indicted on Tuesday on corruption charges, according to the Justice Department.
The charges allege that former speaker and current State Rep. Glen Casada and his former chief of staff Cade Cothren created a company and a fake persona to receive state funds.
The indictment alleges that Casada and Cothren said the political consulting business they actually owned and profited from was run by a "Matthew Phoenix," but in reality there was no Matthew Phoenix and the men were profiting by diverting state funds to the business.
Casada, a Republican, said earlier this year he would not seek reelection, had resigned from House leadership in August 2019.
The Justice Department alleges the state mailer program was at the center of the corruption. The program allowed $3,000 to be used for sending constituent mail and said any other expenses could be offset by campaign funds.
"Casada and Individual 4 would and did receive kickbacks from Cothren in exchange for using their positions as members of the Tennessee House of Representatives to perform official acts, including pressuring the Tennessee House Speaker's Office and other State officials to approve Phoenix Solutions as a Mailer Program vendor and to disburse State funds to Phoenix Solutions," the indictment said.
Another Tennessee state lawmaker was charged in March with similar crimes, according to DOJ.
They are also charged with bribery and kickbacks concerning programs receiving federal funds, honest services wire fraud; and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The scheme, DOJ said, also involved other state representatives but they were not named nor charged in court documents, and the scheme went on for almost three years, according to court documents.
Both men were arrested by the FBI at their houses Tuesday morning, the Justice Department said in a release.
In 2020, these companies and Phoenix Solutions received approximately $51,947 from the State in payments associated with the mailer program, DOJ alleges.
The money laundering charges carry a 20-year prison sentence if those indicted are found guilty and the public corruption and bribery charges carry 10-year sentences.
Casada has not returned ABC News request for comment and there was no lawyer listed on the court docket for Cothren.
Source
https://www.globalcourant.com/former-tennessee-house-speaker-chief-of-staff-indicted-on-corruption-charges/?feed_id=14859&_unique_id=63052704ebc17
As it is with any good high fantasy tale, your "House of the Dragon" experience will likely benefit from a little nerd homework. Here is everything you need to know before you watch so you can avoid common confusions like "Why are all of these blonde people so sad?" or "Wait, they're related?!"
(HBO and CNN share parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.)
"House of the Dragon" is a prequel series that focuses on the Targaryen dynasty; they of myth, madness, incest and purple shampoo. In the original "Game of Thrones" show and in the "Song of Ice And Fire" book series, the powerful House Targaryen has all but died off thanks to regicide and what seems to be a familial lack of impulse control from generations of inbreeding. Daenerys Targaryen is one of the few that remain in GoT-times, and even she gets prematurely sent off to the Shadow Lands by her nephew-lover, Jon Snow. (The Targaryen family tree is very narrow, yet complicated. The Targaryen Family Shillelagh, if you will.)
Since this is right before the eventual downfall of House Targaryen, there are a lot of Targs at play. Too many Targs, one could argue. Some name tags would be nice.
There are many more Targaryens and Targaryen-adjacent people to keep track of, but let's pace ourselves. Another good thing to remember is that many people in Westeros believe the Targaryens have a genetic tendency towards insanity. (Ser Barristan Selmy put it best: "Every time a new Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin in the air and the world holds its breath.) So even the good ones are, theoretically, one minor inconvenience away from mass murder.
Are your wheels completely greased for a new era of "Game of Thrones?" Are you absolutely sure? Great! Here's a sampling of actual Targaryen names from the "Game of Thrones" universe.
No wonder they all went mad. Luckily, only a small portion of these names will appear in "House of the Dragon," but it does make one long for the good old GoT days when the main character just went by "Jon."
https://www.globalcourant.com/house-of-the-dragon-all-the-nerdy-things-you-need-to-know/?feed_id=14075&_unique_id=63031bfe31c59
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Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said Rep. Liz Cheney losing the Wyoming GOP House primary happened because voters finally spoke out again the swamp Tuesday on "The Ingraham Angle."
REP. CHIP ROY: The Declaration of Independence is very clear. The government derives its power from the consent of the governed. The people of Wyoming spoke tonight, and they spoke because they want the agenda that they saw in terms of draining the swamp. They didn't want more of the swamp. That's, I think, what this boils down to. History has a way of cleansing all of the noise.
VOTERS DECIDE PRIMARY ELECTIONS IN WYOMING AND ALASKA: LIVE UPDATES
And when history is judged, when we look at this moment, it's about a change. It's about moving forward. It's about not 2022 or 2024, but 2026 when America turns 250 years old. Are we going to live free or are we going to continue to fund the bureaucracy, continue to expand government at the expense of our freedom? It is time for a change. That time is now, and I think the people are speaking across the country, and this is one example of it.
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New York City will be converting a famed luxury hotel into a shelter for homeless people and migrants seeking asylum in the U.S., according to a Tuesday report.
The hotel, Row NYC, sits right in Times Square and will have an undisclosed number of floors devoted to the shelter, according to the New York Post. Staffers at the hotel say negotiations are ongoing, but the refit is likely to be done within the next two months.
The city government has leased out nearly a dozen hotels to house the homeless population across the city. Row NYC, which was formerly known as Milford Plaza, is by far the most luxurious of the contracted buildings, however.
New York City has struggled for more than a year under a severe homeless crisis, which migrant bussing has only exacerbated.
NYC MAYOR ADAMS OUTRAGED OVER ‘SMALL PART’ OF BORDER CRISIS IMPACTING HIS SANCTUARY CITY, TEXAS AG
New York's Milford Plaza Hotel, which has now been renamed to Row NYC. (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images)
Democratic NYC Mayor Eric Adams has blasted Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for the bussing program, which has seen Texas send dozens of busses full of migrants to Washington, D.C. and NYC. Abbott argues the policies of those in power in DC and New York are responsible for the ongoing border crisis.
"I already called all my friends in Texas and told them how to cast their votes," Adams said during a press conference last week. "And I am deeply contemplating taking a busload of New Yorkers to go to Texas and do some good old-fashioned door knocking because we have to, for the good of America, we have to get him out of office."
Abbott argues that NYC, a proud sanctuary city, should be capable of housing the border-crossers.
"In addition to Washington, D.C., New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city," Abbott said in a statement on Friday.
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"I hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief," he added.
Fast News
The US Justice Department has said it opposes requests by the news media to unseal the affidavit that prosecutors used to obtain a federal judge's approval to search former President Donald Trump's Florida home.
In Monday's court filing, prosecutors said they will not oppose the release of other sealed documents tied to the search, such as cover sheets and the government's motion to seal.
But releasing the affidavit itself could harm the ongoing investigation, the department said.
"If disclosed, the affidavit would serve as a roadmap to the government's ongoing investigation, providing specific details about its direction and likely course, in a manner that is highly likely to compromise future investigative steps," prosecutors wrote in their filing.
Trump's Republican allies in recent days have ramped up their calls for Attorney General Merrick Garland to unseal the document, which would reveal the evidence which prosecutors presented to demonstrate they had probable cause to believe crimes were committed at Trump's home — the standard they had to meet to secure the search warrant.
On Friday, at the Justice Department's request, a federal court in south Florida unsealed the search warrant and several accompanying legal documents that showed that FBI agents carted away 11 sets of classified records from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
Some of the records seized were labelled as "top secret" - the highest level of classification reserved for the most closely held US national security information.
READ MORE: Republicans intensify calls to see affidavit justifying Trump's house raid
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aSJccrT7dg[/embed]
Source: Reuters
WYATT, Mo. -- At least one person was killed Monday when a house exploded in southeast Missouri and a neighboring home erupted in flames, authorities said.
Mississippi County Coroner Terry Parker said the victim died at a Cape Girardeau hospital, KFVS-TV reported. The victim's name wasn't immediately released.
According to the Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office, 10 people were injured in the explosion in the town of Wyatt. Firefighters and ambulances from several surrounding communities rushed to the scene as a second home caught on fire.
A faulty water heater may be to blame, Charleston Department of Public Safety Chief Robert Hearnes said.
The injured included adults and children as young as 6 months old, Hearnes said. The State Fire Marshal was called in to investigate.
Wyatt is a town of about 280 people located about 130 miles (210 kilometers) south of St. Louis.
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The White House said Friday that it finds the stabbing of author Salman Rushdie "reprehensible" and Biden administration officials are praying for his recovery.
Rushdie was stabbed multiple times before a speech at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, on Friday. The attacker allegedly rushed onto the stage and stabbed him in the neck. Rushdie is undergoing surgery at a local hospital.
"Today, the country and the world witnessed a reprehensible attack against the writer Salman Rushdie," White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement. "This act of violence is appalling. All of us in the Biden-Harris Administration are praying for his speedy recovery."
NEW YORK POLICE IDENTIFY MAN WHO ALLEGEDLY STABBED SALMAN RUSHDIE
Salman Rushdie was stabbed multiple times before a speech at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, on Friday. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
"We are thankful to good citizens and first responders for helping Mr. Rushdie so quickly after the attack and to law enforcement for its swift and effective work, which is ongoing," he continued.
A State Trooper assigned to the event at the Chautauqua Institution took the suspect, identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar, into custody immediately after the attack, New York State Police said. The event moderator also suffered a minor head injury.
Andrew Wylie, an agent for Rushdie, told The New York Times that the writer is on a ventilator and is unable to speak.
STABBING OF SALMAN RUSHDIE COMES 33 YEARS AFTER FATWA ISSUED ON HIS LIFE BY IRAN
The attacker allegedly rushed onto the stage and stabbed Rushdie in the neck. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
"The news is not good," Wylie said. "Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged."
Rushdie has lived under the threat of a fatwa on his life after Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini condemned his book, "The Satanic Verses," as blasphemy in 1989 and called for the author's death. The book was also banned in Iran. A fatwa is a decree from an Islamic religious leader.
Iran has offered more than $3 million for anyone who kills Rushdie.
Rushdie has lived under the threat of a fatwa on his life after Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini condemned his book, "The Satanic Verses," as blasphemy in 1989 and called for the author's death. ((Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images))
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Iran's government has since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but Rushdie still faced opposition. A semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised a bounty for Rushdie in 2012 from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.
Fox News' Adam Sabes and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
HOUSTON, Texas
The US House of Representatives passed the Inflation Reduction Act on Friday along party lines.
The legislation that passed in a 220-207 vote secured a huge win for President Joe Biden and the Democratic party months before the midterm elections in November.
"It is a resounding victory for America's families starting at their kitchen table," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House members. "Our Inflation Reduction Act is a robust cost-cutting package that meets the moment, ensuring that our families thrive and that our planet survives."
The Democratic party came together from all sides to praise the bill which addressed a multitude of issues beyond inflation, including taking aggressive action on climate change, lowering medical and prescription drug costs and reducing the national deficit.
The plan includes a record $369 billion in spending on climate change and energy policies projected to slash US carbon emissions by roughly 40% by 2030.
It also allocates $64 billion to reduce health insurance costs by locking in lower premiums under the Affordable Care Act, saving 13 million families an average of $800 per year.
The bill will also cap drug costs at $2,000 and allow the federal government to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs.
It would be funded by imposing a 15% corporate tax on wealthy corporations. The plan also spends $80 billion to boost the Internal Revenue Service's enforcement and compliance divisions which are expected to yield $124 billion in revenue.
While the measure will not immediately affect rising gas and food prices, it does seek to reduce the deficit by $300 billion in the next 10 years, with total provisions of the bill estimated to raise $737 billion, as well as reduce the overall deficit by nearly $2 trillion in the next two decades.
The bill narrowly passed the Senate in a 50-50 vote with the deciding tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Kamala Harris.
It now goes to Biden's desk to be signed into law.
Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
Fast News
US federal agents were looking for documents relating to nuclear weapons when they searched former president Donald Trump's home in Florida this week, the Washington Post has reported.
It was not clear if such documents were recovered, the Post reported on Thursday.
This is a developing story and will be updated soon ...
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Russian police raided the house of Marina Ovsyannikova, the former Russian state television producer who protested the war in Ukraine in a live news broadcast, the journalist said on Wednesday.
“At 6 in the morning while I was still sleeping, tens of employees of the Investigative Committee and the police stormed into my house. They showed an order for the raid,” Ovsyannikova said on the Telegram messaging app.
“They scared my little daughter. Now I am being taken to the Investigative Committee,” she added.
Ovsyannikova, 44, became well known in Russia and abroad in March after staging an anti-war picket during a primetime news broadcast on Russia’s state-controlled Channel One, where she was employed as a producer at the time.
Wednesday’s raids were linked to a criminal case on distributing “fakes” about the Russian Armed Forces, a criminal charge punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The case was opened over Ovsyannikova’s solo protest near the Kremlin in July where she held a poster reading "How many more children must die [in Ukraine] before you stop?"
Dmitry Zakhvatov, a lawyer with the OVD-Info human rights watchdog who is representing Ovsyannikova, said the police started searching her home before her legal representative arrived.
Ovsyannikova has been fined twice before for her anti-war actions.
In July, Moscow’s Meshchansky District Court ordered her to pay 50,000 rubles ($816) for “discrediting” the Russian Armed Forces in an interview she gave during a trial against opposition politician Ilya Yashin.
Top Republican leaders have thrown their support behind former US president Donald Trump after an extraordinary FBI raid on his palatial Florida residence sparked a political firestorm in an already bitterly divided country.
"Nothing like this has ever happened to a president of the United States before," Trump said on Tuesday of the FBI operation at his Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach. "They even broke into my safe!"
Trump denounced the raid as a "weaponisation of the Justice System" by "Radical Left Democrats who desperately don't want me to run for President in 2024."
Several former advisors to the 76-year-old Trump urged him to immediately confirm that he would be a presidential candidate in 2024.
The unprecedented FBI search marked a significant escalation of the federal investigation into whether Trump illegally removed records from the White House as he was leaving office in January 2021.
READ MORE: Explainer: Why is Trump facing a presidential records probe?
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwIdKH3ijaU[/embed]
'Banana republic tactics'
Trump's former vice president Mike Pence, a potential 2024 rival, expressed "deep concern" and said the raid smacked of "partisanship" by the Justice Department.
Kevin McCarthy, who is seeking to become speaker of the House of Representatives if Republicans win November's midterm elections, accused the Justice Department of "weaponised politicisation."
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, said "launching an investigation of a former president this close to an election is beyond problematic."
Republican Congressman Scott Perry –– a Trump ally –– said that FBI agents confiscated his cell phone, but did not specify why it was taken.
"This morning, while travelling with my family, three FBI agents visited me and seized my cell phone," Perry told FOX News, condemning "these kinds of banana republic tactics."
Representative Elise Stefanik, the third-ranking House Republican, called it a "dark day in American history."
"If the FBI can raid a US president, imagine what they can do to you," Stefanik tweeted, to which Democratic Representative Ted Lieu replied: "Why can't the FBI investigate a US president? We're not Russia, where the law doesn't apply to the head of state and his cronies."
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "no person is above the law."
The FBI's raid on President Trump is a dark day in American history.
My full statement 👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/XGJiV28GEi
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) August 9, 2022
Trump's former communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin told CNN the raid could fire up his supporters, a small number of whom rallied outside Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday.
"If it's seen as some sort of massive overreach and not something incredibly serious, this is a very good day for Donald Trump," Farah Griffin said.
For weeks, Washington has been riveted by hearings in Congress about the January 6 storming of the Capitol and Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Fast News
Former President Donald Trump said in a statement on Monday that the FBI was conducting a search of his Mar-a-Lago estate.
"These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents," Trump said in a statement.
The circumstances were not immediately clear. Spokespeople for the FBI and the Justice Department did not return messages seeking comment Monday evening.
“After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” Trump said.
The Justice Department has been investigating the discovery of boxes of records containing classified information that were taken to Mar-a-Lago after Trump's presidency had concluded.
It was not clear whether the FBI search was connected to that probe.
"It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don't want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections," Trump said in the statement.
A separate investigation related to efforts by Trump allies to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol has also been intensifying in Washington.
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Ten people, including seven adults and three children, have been killed after a fire tore through a house and a horrified firefighter who arrived to battle the blaze only to discover that the victims were his family, authorities said.
A criminal investigation into the fire is under way, authorities said on Friday. The children who died in the fire were ages 5, 6 and 7, Pennsylvania State Police said in a news release.
The other victims ranged in age from 19 to 79.
Nescopeck Volunteer Fire Co. firefighter Harold Baker told the Citizens' Voice newspaper of Wilkes-Barre that the 10 victims included his son, daughter, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, three grandchildren and two other relatives.
The fire in Nescopeck was reported around 2:30 am [local time]. One person was found dead inside the single-family home shortly after emergency responders arrived, while two other victims were found later in the morning.
Three adults escaped the blaze.
"The residence was completely destroyed by the fire" and K9 units were deployed to help in the search for victims, police said.
'They’re all dead'
Baker said that the address initially given for the call was a neighbouring home, but that he realised it was his family's residence as the fire truck approached.
"When we turned the corner up here on Dewey (Street) I knew right away what house it was just by looking down the street," Baker told the Citizens' Voice. "I was on the first engine, and when we pulled up, the whole place was fully involved. We tried to get into them."
Neighbours reported hearing a loud popping sound or explosion before seeing the front porch of the home rapidly consumed by flames. Some also reported hearing a young man screaming in front of the home, "They’re all dead."
Baker, who was relieved of his firefighting duties because of his relationship with the victims, said 14 people were living in the home. One of them was out delivering newspapers, and three others escaped, he said.
"I tried to get in as fast as I can," he told the newspaper, saying he attempted to enter multiple times before his colleagues pulled him away.
“It’s a complex criminal investigation with multiple fatalities,” Pennsylvania officials said.
Source: AFP
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday despite repeated warnings not to from mainland China, which claims the island democracy as its own territory.
Pelosi and members of a congressional delegation landed at Taipei Songshan Airport in the Taiwanese capital at just after 10:40 p.m. local time as part of her tour of Asia. She visited Singapore on Monday and Malaysia on Tuesday. Her office previously said she would also travel to South Korea and Japan but didn't mention a stop in Taiwan, until after her plane touched down under the cover of darkness Tuesday night.
"Our Congressional delegation’s visit to Taiwan honors America's unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan's vibrant Democracy," Pelosi and the delegation said in a joint statement Tuesday. "Our visit is part of our broader trip to the Indo-Pacific -- including Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan -- focused on mutual security, economic partnership and democratic governance. Our discussions with Taiwan leadership will focus on reaffirming our support for our partner and on promoting our shared interests, including advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region. America's solidarity with the 23 million people of Taiwan is more important today than ever, as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy."
"Our visit is one of several Congressional delegations to Taiwan -- and it in no way contradicts longstanding United States policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, U.S.-China Joint Communiques and the Six Assurances," they added. "The United States continues to oppose unilateral efforts to change the status quo."
Pelosi is the most senior U.S. official to visit Taiwan in a quarter century. Beijing considers any official contact with Taiwan a recognition of its democratically elected government, which the mainland's ruling Communist Party asserts has no right to conduct foreign relations.
The delegation headed by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives in Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan, Aug. 2, 2022.
Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via ABC News
Just minutes after Pelosi's arrival was confirmed, China's largest state-run news agency, Xinhua, announced that live-fire military drills would be held in the airspace and waters surrounding and close to Taiwan from Thursday to Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced that the armed command in charge of "defending China's sovereignty in the East China Sea," including Taiwan, "will carry out a series of joint military operations around" the island starting Tuesday night. The operations will include "joint air and sea exercises," "long-range live ammunition firing in the Taiwan Strait" and "regular-guided fire testing in the eastern waters of Taiwan Island," according to the ministry.
"This action is a solemn deterrent against the major escalation of the U.S.'s recent negative actions on the Taiwan issue, and a serious warning to the 'Taiwan independence' forces seeking 'independence,'" the ministry said in a statement Tuesday.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a statement, vowing to "take all necessary measures to resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity in response to the U.S. House Speaker's visit to Taiwan, China," adding that "the U.S. and the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces must be responsible for all the consequences."
A spokesperson for the National People's Congress said in another statement that China's 3,000-member ceremonial legislature "firmly opposes and strongly condemns" Pelosi's trip to Taiwain.
The Chinese Communist Party's Taiwan Affairs Office called Pelosi's visit to the island "an escalation of the Taiwan-US collusion, which is very bad in nature and has very serious consequences."
The Boeing C-40C flight SPAR19 carrying the delegation headed by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives in Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan, Aug. 2, 2022.
Ritchie Tongo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
In Washington, D.C., White House spokesperson John Kirby appeared to downplay China's announcement of large military drills near Taiwan in the coming days, saying the statements made thus far fall in line with the "playbook" he had discussed on Monday.
"She has every right to go," Kirby said of Pelosi while addressing reporters on Tuesday. "She's the speaker of the House of Representatives and a member of Congress, and it is not atypical for members of Congress to travel to Taiwan. It's also not unprecedented for a speaker of the House to travel to Taiwan."
Kirby said the U.S. government would continue to make sure Pelosi's visit was "safe and secure."
“We support her right to visit," he added. "We're going to make sure that that visit is safe and secure"
Pelosi's arrival came on the heels of already fiery reactions from Chinese officials amid reports that she was planning such a trip.
Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told a press briefing on Monday that Beijing "will take firm and strong measures" if Pelosi were to travel to Taiwan.
"We want to once again make it clear to the US side that the Chinese side is fully prepared for any eventuality and that the People’s Liberation Army of China will never sit idly by, and we will make resolute response and take strong countermeasures to uphold China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity," Zhao said. "We have on many occasions stated our grave concern and solemn position that we firmly oppose Speaker Pelosi's attempted visit to Taiwan region, and will take firm and strong measures to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity."
"The One China principle is what underpins peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," he added. "It is the United States that has constantly distorted and hollowed out the One China policy and made irresponsible remarks on the Taiwan question, creating tension across the Strait. The U.S. side lately has begun to stress the need to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each country. We hope that the U.S. side should first act as it speaks on the Taiwan question and must not play the double-standard game."
A person watches a news channel about the potential visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Taipei, Taiwan, Aug. 2, 2022.
Ritchie B Tongo/EPA via Shutterstock
Under the so-called "One China principle", Beijing regards Taiwan as their territory, a renegade province to be reunified -- by force if necessary -- with the mainland. The U.S. has a "One China Policy" recognizing the people of Mainland China and Taiwan being part of "One China," that Beijing is China's sole legal government and does not support an independent Taiwan, but considers the matter "unsettled." Washington is also militarily supportive of the self-governing island and maintains extensive commercial and unofficial ties.
Taiwan split from mainland China in 1949, following a civil war between the Nationalist Party's forces and those of the Communist Party. As the communists took control of the mainland, the nationalists retreated to the island of Taiwan where they established their new capital.
Both sides agree that they are one country but disagree on which is the national leader. Although they have no formal relations, the island's economy remains reliant on trade with the mainland.
The U.S. switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. The Taiwan Relations Act, which went into force that same year, requires Washington to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.
Hua Chunying, a senior spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, appeared to dial down the rhetoric on Tuesday before Pelosi's arrival was officially announced, telling reporters that Beijing and Washington "have maintained close communication."
"China has repeatedly and unmistakably expressed to the U.S. side our strong opposition to Speaker Pelosi's potential visit to Taiwan," Hua said. "And we hope that two U.S. officials will be very clear about the importance and sensitivity of this issue and how dangerous this issue could be."
While the Chinese foreign ministry has not yet summoned U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns in protest, Hua noted: "I think when appropriate, we will be in touch with the U.S. ambassador."
Unlike Zhao, she would not comment on any military response to Pelosi's visit and deferred the question to a spokesperson for the ruling party's military, the People’s Liberation Army.
A man rubs his forehead as he reads a newspaper headline reporting "U.S. Taiwan staring anxiously on U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi" at a stand in Beijing, China, on Aug. 2, 2022.
Andy Wong/AP
Kirby said during a press briefing on Monday that Beijing is seemingly laying the groundwork to carry out "military provocations" in response to Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.
"China appears to be positioning itself to potentially take further steps in the coming days and perhaps over longer time horizons," Kirby said.
Kirby told reporters that the "potential steps" China may take in response "could include military provocations, such as firing missiles in the Taiwan Strait or around Taiwan, operations that break historical norms such as a large-scale air entry into Taiwan's air defense identification zone" or "air or naval activities that crossed the median line; military exercises that could be highly publicized." He said the last time Beijing fired missiles into the Taiwan Strait was in 1996.
There could also be measures taken "in the diplomatic and economic space," Kirby said, "like Beijing's public assertions last month that the Taiwan Strait is not an international waterway."
When asked what planning was "being done in advance to ensure there won't be any dangerous fallout if she does indeed go to Taiwan," Kirby told reporters he could "assure" that Pelosi would be able to "travel safely and securely."
"The speaker makes her own decisions," he added. “And what we did was provide her context, analysis, facts, information, so that she could make the best decision possible for every stop, for every overseas travel."
Kirby cast the escalating tensions as fueled by China, which the U.S. was "not threatening." He said a potential visit from Pelosi would have precedent and would not "change the status quo" regarding China and Taiwan.
In 1997, then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich visited Taiwan after meeting with then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Beijing.
But Hua told reporters Tuesday that there would be no "excuse" for a visit by Pelosi.
"The wrong actions of individual U.S. politicians in the past should not set a precedent, much less an excuse for the US to make mistakes on the Taiwan issue," she said.
