Twenty five years after Newt Gingrich, the then speaker of the United States House of Representatives, visited Taiwan, Nancy Pelosi -- the current speaker and the third most important person in the US after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris -- arrived in the Republic of China on Tuesday night, incensing the Communists who run the People's Republic of China across the Taiwan Straits.
Interestingly, not all love and joy greeted the 82-year-old Democrat from California as she arrived in Taipei.
IMAGE: Demonstrators protest Pelosi's visit in Taipei. All photographs: Ann Wang/Reuters
IMAGE: A demonstrator stomps on a placard bearing a resemblance to Speaker Pelosi.
IMAGE: This demonstrator believes the US is aggravating tensions between Beijing and Taipei, encouraging the Communists to perhaps strike militarily at Taiwan after Pelosi leaves the island.
IMAGE: The anger against Pelosi is born out of fear that Pelosi's visit could bring a Communist rain of military trouble on Taiwan.
IMAGE: Demonstrators in Taipei support Pelosi's visit.
IMAGE: A pro-US sign is displayed on a tower ahead of Pelosi's arrival.
IMAGE: Police officers stand guard outside the Grand Hyatt hotel where Pelosi and her delegation were guests.
IMAGE: Demonstrators protest Pelosi's visit.
IMAGE: During a two-hour telephone call with Biden last week, Xi Jinping, who expects to be elected for an unprecedented third term as general secretary of the Chinese Communist party at the party congress in October, warned the American president that there would be trouble if Pelosi visited Taiwan.
IMAGE: A man watches a television broadcast about Pelosi's visit at a restaurant in Taipei.
IMAGE: Guess who is on this newspaper's front page in Taipei?
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com