Pelosi’s visit gave Beijing an opportunity to demonstrate its growing military capabilities with regard to Taiwan, which helps to strengthen Xi’s political power for his third-term re-election.  China needs to ensure stability before the 20th Party Congress, and that’s why it is trying to calibrate the scope and frequency of military manoeuvres around Taiwan. For now, they will tone it down to patrols, but they can bring back more military pressure anytime.

Watch the interview here.