- US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy met Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in California.
- The meeting took place at a stopover made by Tsai on her way back from her Central American trip.
- The Chinese government had already criticized the planned meeting in advance and warned of a possible meeting.
McCarthy, a Republican, is number three in the United States, after the President and Vice President. McCarthy and Tsai met Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in the town of Simi Valley, northwest of Los Angeles.
Legend:
Tsai Ing-wen shakes hands with Kevin McCarthy.
EPO/ETIENNE LAURENT
China sees a high-level meeting between US and Taiwan officials as a provocation. Taiwan has had an independent government since 1949, but China considers the democratic island part of its national territory.
How does the People’s Republic react?
The Chinese leadership responded to a visit by McCarthy’s predecessor, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan last August with military maneuvers lasting several days. So far, there has been no increased Chinese military activity around Taiwan in response to Tsai’s visit, a US Defense Department spokeswoman said at a news conference.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meanwhile called on China not to further fuel tensions between the two countries because of Tsai’s stopover in the United States. “In plain language, this means that Beijing should not use the transit as an excuse for measures to exacerbate tensions,” said Blinken in Brussels. Transits by high-ranking Taiwanese politicians are nothing new. “They are private, they are unofficial.” This also applies to corresponding meetings.