Florida congressman says if China carries out threats against Speaker Pelosi, it will be a ‘declaration of war’

Responding to threats of “forceful measures” from Beijing this week if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan on her upcoming trip to Asia, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fl.) told Fox News this weekend that if China were to carry out any violent acts against the Speaker, it would be tantamount to a declaration of war with the United States.

“This is an unacceptable threat,” said Waltz. “Speaker Pelosi, regardless of what you think of our politics, is the number three in line for the presidency of the United States. He continued by calling for stronger rhetoric from the White House against the threats from China.

“Once again, we see the Biden White House failing to be clear on what the United States finds acceptable and unacceptable,” Waltz said. “And in this case, we need to make it clear that should any harm come to Speaker Pelosi and her trip to Taiwan, it’s tantamount to a declaration of war. That’s the kind of clarity we need from the commander-in-chief right now. And we’re just not getting it.”

“Xi [Jinping] is going to view this as a personal affront,” said Heino Klinck, a Trump-era deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia to Foreign Policy. “On top of all of the domestic issues that he’s already fighting, whether it’s zero-COVID, the mortgage crisis, the fact that people are on the streets, actually, which always gets [Chinese Communist Party] attention, this is just adding fuel to the fire—and he’s going to interpret this as a part of a deliberate strategy.” 

Pelosi is reportedly scheduled to depart for her Asia trip on Friday.