Letters to the Editor: Pelosi's 'megaphone diplomacy' on Taiwan could backfire

To the editor: The problem with megaphone diplomacy is that it may end up cornering the parties involved into a nonnegotiable position where being seen as weak is not an option. That's precisely what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) did with her Taiwan visit. ("Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit didn't cause heightened China-U.S. animosity. But it isn't helping," Opinion, Aug. 2)

I realize that this might well be the last chance that Pelosi could take her stance on Taiwan as the speaker of the House, but she could just as well have visited Taiwan without blabbing it out to the world.

Our worst fear is to give false hope to Taiwan, which has a rather ill-equipped military to defend itself. Knowing how America has behaved in Vietnam, Afghanistan and most recently Ukraine, Taiwan would be wise to keep its head down.

Pelosi should have known better.

John T. Chiu, Newport Beach

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To the editor: Pelosi's visit to Taiwan signaled unambiguous U.S. support for that country.

It is important that the U.S. does not allow China to dictate our foreign policy, just as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization accepted the memberships of Sweden and Finland despite threats from Russia.

Our clarity in supporting Taiwan could deter China's ambitions in Southeast Asia.

Ann Lau, Torrance

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.