Representative Pelosi:

Your announcement to travel to Taiwan has been triggering and would have been an act of war against an agreement the U.S. has with China. The trip will have few potential benefits, while posing enormous risks. Chinese state media has said, "Pelosi’s Taiwan visit is a blatant provocation which will surely be met with a forceful response from China, including unprecedented military pressure." In The Atlantic, Michael Schuman states that this has the potential to be "a Cuban-missile-crisis moment, with the United States and China staring at a potential conflagration."

With war hawks like John Bolton and Mike Pompeo and an increasing number of politicians all jumping onboard to make themselves look "tough," the longer you wait before cancelling this trip, the worse the political pressure to go will get. And the longer the controversy over it goes on, the harder it will be for China to back down from a military response.

In short, you were willing to risk a military confrontation of the worst possible kind —and for what benefit?

We urge you to be the adult in the room and stop provoking China. China Is Not Our Enemy, we need cooperation, and diplomacy, not more red lines crossed that lead to a war with another nuclear power.

Sincerely,