To understand China's Pelosi rage, consider a Civil War analogy

The preferred Washington parlor game for the past week has been: Will she or won’t she?

She is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and the issue is her putative trip to Taiwan this week. Pelosi is leading a Democratic Party Congressional delegation to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan to discuss trade and governance issues. But Taiwanese media and CNN both reported on Monday that Pelosi is expected to arrive on Tuesday evening (early morning Tuesday, U.S. eastern time).