Xi Jinping might maintain the countermeasures he took after Nancy Pelosi met with Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei to deter other international dignitaries from making similar trips. (Source photos by AP)

Analysis: Pelosi's Taiwan visit is Xi's final exam to stay top leader

President under pressure to prove he can manage U.S. relations like predecessors

KATSUJI NAKAZAWA, Nikkei senior staff writer

August 4, 2022 04:00 JST

Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan and how President Xi Jinping is formulating Beijing's responses have put the spotlight on whether the Chinese leader has the chops to handle such complex issues. In a sense, it is the final exam he must pass to win a third term as China's top leader this autumn.