Pelosi leading delegation to Asia on Friday with Taiwan visit still undecided

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is leading an official congressional delegation to Asia on Friday, two sources said, although it’s unclear whether the trip will include a stop in Taiwan.

One of the sources who reviewed the itinerary Thursday afternoon said it listed a Taiwan visit as “tentative.” The trip will include visits to Asian allies Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.

Bloomberg News first reported that Pelosi’s delegation is departing Friday, the last day the House is in session before its monthlong August recess.

In another development, Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said Chinese officials were pressuring him to try to halt Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. He said in an interview that an official from the Chinese Embassy called his office and demanded that he tell the speaker to call the trip off.

On Monday, China’s consul general in San Francisco delivered a similar message to Larsen in person during a long-planned meeting in his Seattle district.

“He brought it up, as well, and made that request,” said Larsen, a co-chair of the bipartisan U.S.-China Working Group. “I think it’s a gross miscalculation on the part of the Chinese to try to pressure any member of Congress on any travel anywhere, much less this trip, if it’s occurring.” 

Pelosi has invited senior lawmakers to join her on the trip, including House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano, D-Calif., who led a delegation of lawmakers to Taiwan last year.

Takano declined to comment about the trip Thursday afternoon. Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said they also had been invited by Pelosi but could not make the trip.

Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill also declined to comment. The speaker’s office has a policy of not discussing any international travel by lawmakers in advance, citing security concerns.

Earlier reports that Pelosi might visit Taiwan sparked international headlines and stern warnings that Beijing would carry out a “forceful” response if she sets foot on the democratic island of 24 million people, which China sees as being under its control.

Some of the threats have been aimed at Pelosi herself. “If the US can’t restrain her, let China restrain her & punish her,” Hu Xjin, the former editor of the Chinese state newspaper Global Times, tweeted. “PLA Air Force will surely make her visit a disgrace to herself and to the US.” (“PLA” is the People’s Liberation Army.)

One of the sources said Pelosi had been hosting meetings in her office all week about the Asia trip and the Taiwan controversy. The source said discussions about a potential visit were extremely delicate given the possibility of military escalation.

“The Chinese could always make a miscalculation. Cowboys could miscalculate,” the source said. “And you have our folks who are going to do what they are trained to do to ensure security.”

President Joe Biden, who spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, had raised concerns about Pelosi’s possibly traveling to Taiwan. He said over the weekend that U.S. military officials have told him that visiting Taiwan “is not a good idea right now.”

Tensions over Taiwan were among the issues Biden and Xi discussed by phone.

In their readout of the two-hour-plus call, the Chinese used tough rhetoric to warn against any U.S. support for Taiwan’s independence.

“Those who play with fire will perish by it,” the Chinese said in a statement. “It is hoped that the U.S. will be clear-eyed about this.”

Lawmakers from both parties rallied behind Pelosi, however, urging her to make the trip and emphasize U.S. support for the self-governing island.