On Pelosi's Visit

With special attention to Jing-mei Museum and legendary activist Chen Chu

Hello dear readers, it’s been an intense week! Not long after we wrote about Pelosi’s proposed visit last week, news leaked that she was indeed coming. Taiwanese and international media went into hyper-drive, tracking her every move up to Tuesday night’s arrival. At one point, over 700,000 people were following her flight through an online flight tracker, thereby crashing the website. 

The Chinese government also reacted, or rather, over-reacted. Besides sanctioning Taiwanese fruit, fish products, biscuits, and pastries, they sent warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense zone and launched four days of “live-fire” military drills. These began the moment Pelosi left. This series of escalating scenarios included missile attacks, a naval blockade, and on Saturday, a simulation of a full-out invasion. The message: we could own you at any second.

The Taiwanese have responded with characteristic nonchalance. People have been going on with business as usual. There’s been no run on banks, no discerni…