Despite Tsai Ingwen’s visit, the government did not say whether there would be a meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
Taiwan President Tsai Ingwen will visit the United States during her trip to Central America in late March. However, the Taiwanese government did not say whether a possible meeting with the head of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, will take place. The information comes from the Portal news agency.
Presidential Office spokesman Lin Yuchan said Tsai will visit New York and Los Angeles as part of a planned trip to Guatemala and Belize, both located in Central America. She will leave the Thai capital Taipei on March 29 and is expected to return on April 7.
Guatemala and Belize are among 14 countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Recently, on March 15, Honduras announced it would establish diplomatic ties with China, which is likely to disrupt the Honduran government’s traditional ties with Taiwan.
Beijing’s “One China” policy prohibits other countries from having simultaneous diplomatic relations with the two countries.
Asked about a possible meeting with McCarthy, Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister Alexander Yui said details of Tsai’s visit to the US would not be announced until the accords were signed.
According to news channel CNN International, McCarthy told reporters he would meet with the Taiwanese president when she was in the US, but did not give dates. The head of the US House of Representatives did not rule out a trip to Taiwan in addition to a possible meeting.
Kevin McCarthy is the leader of the Republican Party. He was elected speaker of the US House of Representatives on Jan. 7, a position previously held by Democrat Nancy Pelosi. She left the presidency of the House of Representatives in November 2022 after losing the House majority.
An eventual meeting between Tsai Ingwen and Kevin McCarthy is likely to draw criticism from China. Xi Jinping’s reelected government claims territory in Taiwan, which resists encroachments on its autonomy. China says it has “sovereign rights and jurisdiction” over the location, which it considers a Chinese “rebel province.”
In August 2022, Pelosi paid a visit to Taiwan. During its stay in the country, China conducted a series of joint military operations around the island of Taiwan.
President Xi Jinping’s administration responded to the visit by announcing sanctions against Pelosi and suspending cooperation agreements signed with the US.
Read the measures announced by the Chinese government at the time:
- Cancellation of talks between commanders of SinoUS armies;
- cancellation of ChinaUS defense policy coordination talks;
- Cancellation of SinoUS Military Naval Consultative Agreement meetings;
- Suspension of SinoUS Cooperation on Repatriation of Illegal Immigrants;
- Suspension of SinoUS Mutual Assistance Cooperation in Criminal Matters;
- Suspension of SinoUS Cooperation Against Transnational Crimes;
- Suspension of SinoUS AntiDrug Cooperation; It is
- Suspension of ChinaUS talks on climate change.
China has also imposed sanctions on Taiwan. It carried out military activities, including stopping imports of various agricultural and fisheries products from Taiwan.
TAIWAN
The Taiwan issue is one of the most sensitive issues in the People’s Republic of China. Taiwan has been governed independently since a civil war ended in 1949.
However, China considers the island part of its territory in the form of a breakaway province. According to Chinese interpretation, if Taiwan tries to gain independence, it must be stopped by force.
USChina relations over Taiwan are going through one of their most complicated times. In May 2000, US President Joe Biden said he was prepared to use force to defend Taiwanese territory in the event of an attack by China.
Biden said the US agreed to “the one China policy,” but the idea that Taiwan “can only be taken by force is simply not appropriate.” According to him, it would be “a similar action as in Ukraine”.
On the same day that Britain’s Financial Times newspaper reported on Pelosi’s intention to visit the island, China’s Foreign Ministry said the trip would seriously jeopardize China’s territorial integrity. If the trip takes place, according to the agency, the United States will bear “the consequences”. On July 20, Biden told reporters that the Pentagon had advised against travel: “The military doesn’t think it’s a good idea right now.”
Speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping in July last year, Biden stated that “US policy has not changed.” “The US firmly opposes any unilateral effort to change the status quo or undermine Taiwan’s peace and stability,” the White House said.
In a statement, Xi said “public opinion should not be hurt” and that if the US “played with fire,” it would be “burned.”