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US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stands for a photo with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen during a visit to Taiwan. (provided by the Office of the President, Taiwan/AP/Yonhap News)

US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi went ahead with her visit to Taiwan despite fierce pushback from China, which has initiated retaliatory measures including military drills that are intended to surround the island. As the US and China continue to stare each other down over the Taiwan Strait, there are grave concerns that the precarious situation could give way to a crisis. Following her visit to Taiwan, Pelosi arrived in South Korea on Wednesday evening. It’s more important now than ever for Korea to be prudent in its diplomatic response.

After arriving in Taiwan on Tuesday evening, Pelosi promised to protect Taiwan and global democracy in a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday. She went on to meet Mark Liu — chairman of TSMC, the chipmaker that is so integral to the US-led “Chip 4” alliance — as well as Örkesh Dölet (also spelled Wu’er Kaixi), a Uyghur who helped lead the Tiananmen Square protests, and Lam Wing-kee, a Hong Kong bookseller who was detained by Beijing and later released. In effect, Pelosi took aim at a whole spectrum of issues that China considers out of bounds, including democracy, Hong Kong, semiconductors and the Uyghurs.

Pelosi’s decision to visit Taiwan against the wishes of US President Joe Biden is viewed askance even by US allies. Many think it is irresponsible of Pelosi to stir up conflict between the US and China in order to cement her own political legacy. The Chinese military began exercises around Taiwan as soon as Pelosi stepped foot on Taiwanese soil and has announced drills that will encircle Taiwan in six areas off the Taiwanese coast between Thursday and Sunday.

While neither the US nor China wants a military conflict at the moment, domestic political factors are likely to keep the confrontation sharp. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who warned before Pelosi’s visit that “those who play with fire will perish by it,” is looking forward to the party congress that will extend his tenure in power. Xi will seek to intensify retaliatory measures against Taiwan to gin up patriotic support from the Chinese public.

That could lead to a situation in which the US is compelled to respond directly. We can’t rule out the possibility of a 21st-century equivalent of the Cuban missile crisis or a fourth crisis in the Taiwan Strait that would be much more perilous than the third crisis there in 1995-1996. Such developments are unwanted by any country in the world, and it’s critical for the US and China to exercise restraint.

A crisis in the Taiwan Strait is not something Koreans can afford to watch with idle curiosity. Amid growing conflict between the US and China and closer ties between China and North Korea, there are growing fears that the North Korean nuclear issue will get worse and that the Korean Peninsula will become entangled in conflict. South Korea needs to exercise wisdom in its foreign policy toward the US and China under the principle of not endangering regional peace and stability.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]