Editor's note: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's provocative visit to China's Taiwan region, despite China's stern warnings, has drawn international condemnation. Significantly, Pelosi is also facing a backlash at home. How is the civil society in the U.S. reacting to this? What could bring about a reconciliation of China-U.S. bilateral relations? Calla Walsh, an American peace and anti-war youth activist, shares her insights on Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. The opinions expressed in the video are her own and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

CGTN: How is the civil society in the U.S. reacting to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 's visit to China's Taiwan region?

Walsh: There have been a lot of people organizing protests and demonstrations for peace and against the "new Cold War" against China, specifically inside Nancy Pelosi's districts. I know the ANSWER Coalition organized a large demonstration. Both you know, making the point that these sorts of aggressions are dangerous for the people of China, but also to point out that Nancy Pelosi is far too focused on these Cold War aggressions and is completely abdicating responsibility for addressing the issues inside of her own districts.

And I think that point is important because it helps Americans to understand the issue when we also connect it to how the U.S. imperial policies hurt domestically as well. So I think inside the U.S., like I said, there's a lot of misunderstanding about China. But a lot of people are also very opposed to another war because they've seen the devastating impacts of the war in Ukraine on the U.S. economy for working people, and no one is interested in getting into another large-scale conflict.

CGTN: The Chinese People's Liberation Army has carried out military exercises around Taiwan. The U.S. said it will take action including air and naval deployments through the Taiwan Strait in the next few weeks. Do you think this whole visit is kind of a watershed moment that runs the risk of escalating the tension into a hot war?

Walsh: I think that is an absolute very real threat that we should all be conscious of and that should be driving our organizing against further escalation. I will say also that the U.S.'s criticism of China's military drills in the Taiwan Strait are quite absurd because China is simply exercising military drills in its own territorial waters, while the U.S. surrounds China with over 400 foreign military bases and endless military aggression and military drills with other countries like Japan and South Korea and Australia, doing military drills and right around China's territorial waters. So, to portray China as the aggressor is absolutely bizarre, when I think China has the right to defend its territory against this imperial aggression.

So I think the threat of this turning into a hot war is absolutely real. And I think in some ways the original Cold War never really ended. The U.S. has continued its regime-change policies around the world, and I think the Cold War also never really was a "Cold War." Yesterday [August 6] was the anniversary of the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And many would argue that was the start of the Cold War against the Soviet Union and against communism, because the U.S. was sending a message that we are the only country with nuclear power, and we will use these against anyone who poses a serious threat to our hegemony in the future. And I see that as the start to the "Cold War."

And I think that now the case is the same – these sorts of conflicts risk complete global annihilation by nuclear weapons and by this expansive militarism. And for the U.S., these systems are profitable and that is also a big driver of this military expansion, whereas in countries building socialism, militarism and war and death are not profitable. They are counter to these projects that we're trying to build. So I think that an end to this endless militarism and a serious stand against the U.S.'s foreign military presence especially is going to be key in de-escalating this "cold/hot war."

CGTN: Some say Pelosi's move is driven by vanity. What does she gain from this visit? And how will her legacy be viewed in the U.S.?

Walsh: Her legacy will be viewed as a warmonger that she has always been, you know, supporting endless wars in the Middle East. This is just a continuation of her endless support for U.S. imperialism, and I honestly don't know what she is personally thinking or what she personally has to gain with this, but I think her comments throughout the trip have been quite ridiculous and demonstrate a clear lack of understanding of the actual political situation. And she only views other parts of the world, particularly the Global South, as arenas through which the U.S. can compete for further hegemony and domination and exploitation rather than actual equal partners to work with to build a better world.

She spoke about how she feels connected to China because when she was a little girl, she thought she could dig a hole to China. That was one thing she said during her press conference, which is just bizarre, you know, she's not actually trying to understand these countries. In the U.S., these other places are just viewed as field grounds through which the U.S. can kill a couple thousand people and try to advance their military machine and not as actual countries worth partnering with or even attempting to understand.

CGTN: What do you think could bring about a reconciliation between China and the U.S. at a time when bilateral ties seem to be at a historical low?

Walsh: I think it really counts on people inside the U.S. organizing against our governments and imperial policies, because we are some of the only people who can afford to do that, to fully stand up to the U.S. government without challenging the entire world to nuclear fire. So I think we really do have a responsibility to stand against this aggression against China and stop feeding into these imperialist lies about China.

Of course, China is not a perfect society, just like no society is the perfect society. But as Americans whose country is relentlessly pursuing this aggression against China and undermining China's attempts to build socialism and to build their own society free of exploitation, it is not our place to be jumping into these criticisms and to be backing up the United States' militarization against China. It is our role to fight against the oppressive policies of our own government. And a lot of that is going to count on partnering with China, which is a world leader in sustainable development and ending poverty and decolonial struggles.

And it's really going to count on us organizing to end U.S. imperialism, to dismantle U.S. empire, and that's going to include working with Chinese people directly and attempting to understand the Chinese system and partnering with them, because as working people across the world, we are connected, and our interests are the same. And working people in the U.S. have to stop understanding the United States ruling class as their allies, when the U.S. ruling class is the enemy of all working people across the world. So, the workers of the world need to unite basically.

Interviewer: Abhishek G Bhaya

Managing editor: Zhao Jingzhu

Video editor: Feng Ran

Senior producers: Bi Jianlu, Wang Xinyan, Zhang Peijin

Supervisor: Ma Jing

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