This “American transit” of the Taiwanese president was described in advance as “insidious” by Chinese diplomacy, reports our correspondent in Beijing, Stephane Lagarde. The State Department spokeswoman recalled that China had lodged its “solemn protests” with the White House.
Indeed, a meeting between Tsai Ing-wen and Kevin McCarthy would mean for the communist regime to encourage what the Chinese leadership sees as “separatist forces,” namely the Taiwanese government. This warning came hours before Tsai Ing-wen left for Central America. Ten days of travel especially to meet Taipei’s allies – Guatemala and Belize – after they met Honduras lost.
Taiwanese provocations
Taiwan refuses to be locked down in isolation. The head of state was to make two stops in the United States. At the end of the course she was able to meet the President of the American House of Representatives in Los Angeles. A visit that Washington says is not unusual but has angered Chinese authorities.
If the meeting were to take place, it would be an important point for Taipei in its transit diplomacy. Beijing is promising to take “firm retaliatory measures” against “provocations,” said the spokesman for the Bureau of Taiwan Affairs in China’s State Council.
►Also read: The US is ready to use force to defend Taiwan if China invades
Once on American soil, the Taiwanese leader must address a closed-door speech at the Hudson Institute in New York, a conservative anti-China think tank. But even the most warlike circles draw a red line.
“Do not cross the line that would kill diplomacy”
Only Mike Pompeo, the former head of American diplomacy under Donald Trump, is urging Washington to establish diplomatic relations with Taiwan. But his radical speech does not pass through the ranks of the institution.
“I don’t think the United States should officially recognize Taiwan because we would cut ties with China. However, the United States and China do not want war. Yes, we want to protect Taiwan, but we must not provoke conflict, it’s a matter of balance. It is tempting to pretend that the United States should recognize Taiwan, but one must recognize that doing so is a significant risk. We have to be even more careful there,” says Patrick Cronin, head of the Asia-Pacific Chair at the Hudson Institute.
But what is the American margin? “The arms shipments that we have long announced and promised have not delivered. We can do better, and if China responds very harshly, the United States will try to provide Taiwan with even more military equipment and financial support. In fact, we’re trying to maintain this somewhat crude status quo with China, but without crossing that line, which would kill diplomacy, because that’s how we’ve kept the peace so far,” Patrick Cronin continues, before stating, “I think all above 24 million Taiwanese. We have a responsibility to get them to speak to the Chinese government on an equal footing. »