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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit has sent a floundering relationship with China into further disarray. The long-term ramifications of the visit are unclear, but China's Foreign Affairs Ministry has threatened military and economic action in response. This EdgeTheory narrative intelligence brief analyzes U.S. media's reactions to Pelosi's visit how the narrative is being shaped every day.
U.S. media has been fascinated with the controversial move from Pelosi in the past week– over 4,000 narratives from 439 sources in U.S. media. Mentions of her visit peaked on August 2, with just under 1,200 narratives on that day alone.
Liberal and conservative coverage was evenly distributed; left-leaning outlets had around 200 more narratives than their right-leaning counterparts. The majority of narratives came from sources known for being highly reliable.
Beyond the numbers of this narrative, keyword trends depict the backlash from Pelosi's move, both at home an abroad. A top trend associated with this narrative is John Kirby (252 sources). The NSC Coordinator has made several statements in an attempt to mitigate the diplomatic quagmire with China and Taiwan. While he has reinforced the standard "One China" policy the U.S. government has employed for decades, Kirby also condemned the missile tests the Chinese military conducted in response to Pelosi's visit.
Speaking of missiles, another trend that emerged from media coverage was military exercises (202 sources). China has ongoing military activity close to the Taiwanese border. The drills began shortly after Pelosi's departure, and the response from the China's Foreign Affairs Ministry indicates that the timing of the exercises was not a coincidence.
Joe Biden, another associated trend (258 sources), has been caught in between a rock and a hard place. Though the president discouraged a visit to Taiwan to begin with, he is now facing backlash from across the political spectrum for a muddled response to Pelosi's actions and the Chinese government's response.
This could just be another bump in the road for U.S.-China relations; but the relationship has become increasingly rocky in recent years, and the war in Ukraine has many concerned for the future of Taiwan, and the conflict that could arise in the wake of a Chinese invasion.
This narrative will continue to be significant in the future of the U.S.' relationship with China. Check back on the brief below to stay in the loop of U.S. media's coverage of this narrative.
