It better be fine. Iâm arriving on 8/9 and would like to see the free and democratic nation that I left back in May, not a CCP wasteland. How selfish of me to have such a desire.
And this:
A lot of you guys are quite critical. A few not saying yes or no. One or two suggest that it is a boost for TaiwanâŚ
Taiwan political people in power will be quite happy to rub shoulders with top officials from the U.S., and wonât complain or judge in public. Donât forget, from the perspective of Taiwanâs current government and many ordinary people, support for their democracy is the same thing as resistance against totalitarianism across the strait. Geopolitical tensions are being created by the Chinese only-one-one-way-street; Chinaâs machine mind party line harks after Russiaâs antiquated myth-makingâŚ
My main idea is that the ideological stance and dance of China is central to its continued popular dominance over âthe peopleâ⌠Yet translating domestic crowd control into outright warfare seems to me a very big step. âNobody believes it can happenâ until history repeats once again: the existence of all those soldiers and heavy weapons is real, not just a bad dream. They may get used, even if the rational program is to play and beg for peace.
Nobody has analyzed the mechanism of what causes warfare, except maybe Tolstoy, and a few others⌠Perhaps it is merely a reflex, a sort of nightmarish priapism nobody tries to defuse and the babes are powerless to refuse⌠?
Yeah. Taiwan had to allow this to happen.
My cannabis stocks are up. Chill, dudes! Wrong thread? Yeah, cool. 
Speaker Pelosi WELCOME TO TAIWAN
It would be great to just ignore the PRC. As much as that would be preferable, deserved by Taiwan, morally right etc., theyâre not going anywhere. Itâs wise to choose oneâs battles at times. I hope Taiwan is fully on board with this one, I trust this government to make the right call.
Taiwan had to allow them in. They had a choice. The US cannot just send a jet with a politician without Taiwanâs permission.
They obviously took this when they had the chance.
Sure, but it doesnât mean they loved it (not saying they didnâtâI assume they wonât be telling us either way). It would be an enormous step into the unknown to reject this flight, even if they werenât so happy about it.
I think this something they couldâve easily told the US not right now if they werenât fully onboard. The news knew about this before this flight even started from the US mainland. If the news knew, wouldnât Taiwanese intelligence also know?
Could be. Was there any discussion of this previous to Pelosiâs recent announcement?
Thatâs the thing about intelligence agencies, itâs likely the conversation was held in secret.
I think thatâs plausible. I am very doubtful this was a surprise to the Taiwanese authorities.
Its all in the wording . Taiwan never formally invited US and even when talk about it they just say âwe welcome all foreign guestsâ not âwe welcome US politicianâ. ofcourse after they come and landed its a different thing. It gives taiwn what they want and also make them not agitate china that much and US is the one which takes all the blame for it.
I have an innate mistrust of politicians. Hopefully, all is indeed proceeding according to plan
Their military plans look awfully lot like a blockade. But hey, it was worth it to show weâre âstanding up.â
US will take the blame for it, but China wonât be flying jets near Hawaii.
People who work in intelligence agencies are not all politicians. Itâs critical to distinguish between government workers and politicians.
Pelosiâs statement. 
While saying her visit marks no change in US policy towards Taiwan and China, she linked it to Russiaâs invasion of Ukraine and said it was meant as a show of support for democracies under threat.
âIn the face of the Chinese Communist Partyâs (CCP) accelerating aggression, our congressional delegationâs visit should be seen as an unequivocal statement that America stands with Taiwan, our democratic partner, as it defends itself and its freedom,â Pelosi wrote.
She also referenced Chinaâs crackdown on rights in Hong Kong, as well as Beijingâs repeated threats to seize Taiwan by force:
Indeed, we take this trip at a time when the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy. As Russia wages its premeditated, illegal war against Ukraine, killing thousands of innocents â even children â it is essential that America and our allies make clear that we never give in to autocrats.
When I led a congressional delegation to Kyiv in April â the highest-level U.S. visit to the besieged nation â I conveyed to President Volodymyr Zelensky that we admired his peopleâs defense of democracy for Ukraine and for democracy worldwide.
By traveling to Taiwan, we honor our commitment to democracy: reaffirming that the freedoms of Taiwan â and all democracies â must be respected.
This misses the point where in a real war, they wouldnât be able to get to the east coast without simultaneous Philippine, Taiwanese and Japanese support.
They go through the chokepoint, they get shot.