For days, the United States and China had warned each other not to escalate the situation in and around Taiwan.
Everything was made particularly difficult by the fact that the two top representatives, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, had publicly committed themselves.
The Americans therefore had to expect, and probably did expect, that China would not only react verbally to the visit of the "speaker" of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan.
Biden also knows that this visit – without a recognizable and comprehensible agenda – does not fit particularly well into the political landscape, although he cannot dictate to the top representative of parliament when she travels where.
This, in turn, can hardly be conveyed to a dictator like Xi Jinping, who can very well dictate to his subordinates what they can and cannot do.
Xi is also in a delicate domestic political situation, which he brought about himself – for example through his rigid Covid policy – but from which a foreign policy crisis could now open up an all too easy way out for him, at least in the short term.
After all, both sides are in contact
So now China is deploying large military hardware around Taiwan.
It cannot be assumed that the announced "manoeuvres" will be the prelude to a military invasion of Taiwan.
Nevertheless, tact is required on both the American and – above all – the Chinese side.
Both sides, it was reported several times on Tuesday, are in constant contact.
That's good and hopefully avoids misunderstandings.
The question remains as to what good this will do for the people of Taiwan, who by a large majority want anything but “reunification” with their “compatriots” on the mainland.
Whatever happens in the coming days, you will have to suffer the aftermath of Nancy Pelosi's visit.
It is unlikely that Pelosi deliberately caused this "bang effect".
And of course Beijing cannot forbid you to visit.
But you shouldn't do everything that you can and are allowed to do.
Pelosi is actually experienced enough to know and heed that.