House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) just did something that we rarely see from politicians these days… he showed some common sense.
McCarthy had been planning a photo-op trip to Taiwan to meet with the country's president.
Now, out of an abundance of caution and to not get the Chinese ramped up any more than they are already, he will hold that meeting on US soil, reports the National Review.
Good Move
I am sure that Democrats will call him scared or a coward, but this is the right move.
The idea of an American politician putting boots on the ground to show support is idiotic in my opinion.
You may be able to make that argument with a visit by the president or the vice president, but anyone else is just a useless and expensive photo op, in my opinion. If anything, it just makes the situation tenser, not to mention the cost of the trip to taxpayers.
The Pentagon has been working out the details of the McCarthy trip, which would have entailed moving assets into the area in case hostilities broke out. We are talking about millions of dollars just so he could have had a photo shaking the hand of the president of Taiwan.
Now, however, Taiwan's President, Tsai Ing-wen, will come here next month to meet with McCarthy.
While I am sure China is still not happy about the meeting, it will keep tempers at bay and, far more importantly, not cost the American taxpayer millions of dollars so McCarthy can look like a tough guy.
McCarthy's office has not yet commented on the change, but a senior Taiwanese official did state, "We shared some intelligence about what the Chinese Communist Party is recently up to and the kinds of threats they pose,” reports Fox News.
China is clearly ramping up for something, with the consensus being that a move against Taiwan is imminent. Some believe the spy balloon may have been part of the process to measure our readiness if such an attack were to take place.
