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The office of United States House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has confirmed that the Republican leader will meet with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen in California this week, a move anticipated to anger China, which has warned the US against hosting the Taiwanese leader.
McCarthy’s office said on Monday that the speaker will host a “bipartisan meeting” on Wednesday with Tsai, who will be transiting through the US on her way back to Taiwan.
The California visit will be the second of two stops for Tsai in the US, as she makes her way to and from Central America. Last week, on her way to visit diplomatic allies in Guatemala and Belize, Tsai had a stopover in New York, where she spoke at the Hudson Institute think tank.
“On Wednesday, April 5th, Speaker Kevin McCarthy will be hosting a bipartisan meeting with the President of Taiwan at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library,” McCarthy’s office said on Monday. The library is 64km (40 miles) from downtown Los Angeles, California.
Beijing had objected to the meeting before it was confirmed, warning that it would take “resolute measures” to protect Chinese sovereignty.
“There is but one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. As the Chinese side has repeatedly stressed, we strongly oppose any form of official interaction and contact between the US side and Taiwan authorities,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said earlier on Monday.
This transit is consistent with our long-standing unofficial relationship with Taiwan, and it is consistent with the United States’ ‘One China’ policy, which remains unchanged,” White House national Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said last week.
Under the “One China” policy, the US acknowledges the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing over the Republic of China (ROC) in Taipei as the sole and legal government of China.
SOURCE:ALJAZEERA
