As Speaker of the House of Congress, McCarthy is the third most important person in the US state. There has not been a meeting of this level in North American territory since 1979. The Republican Party politician received Tsai at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, in Simi Valley, near Los Angeles, according to journalists from the AFP news agency. Pro-Beijing and pro-Taiwan protesters gathered in front of the building.
After the call, Tsai said the reception from a large group of lawmakers from McCarthy’s Republican Party and President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party was proof that Taiwan has friends in the international community: “Its presence and unwavering support assures the people of Taiwan that we are not isolated and not alone.”
McCarthy told the meeting that he was “optimistic” that the US and Taiwan would continue to find ways “to work together to promote economic freedom, democracy, peace and stability in Asia.” A shared belief in democracy and freedom is “the foundation” of a lasting relationship, McCarthy told Tsai.
China harshly criticizes meetings, Blinken appeases
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning spoke in advance of a “grave violation of the one-China principle” that “undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”. China warned US not to ‘play with fire’ A “serious confrontation” is imminent. Criticisms of Tsai’s meeting with McCarthy are particularly scathing due to the high ranking of the American politician.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged China not to escalate tensions over Taiwanese President Tsai’s scale in the United States. “In plain language, this means that Beijing should not use transit as a pretext for measures to exacerbate tensions (…),” Blinken said on Wednesday in Brussels. Transits of high-ranking Taiwanese politicians are nothing new. “They are private, they are not official.” This also applies to corresponding meetings.
“Silent” meeting with senators in New York
Tsai, who arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday night from a visit to Central America, had already made a stopover in New York last week. Only later did it become known that Tsai had already met with a group of senators from various parties at this time.
AP/Ringo Hw Chiu There was a meeting of politicians at the Ronald Reagan Library
Dan Sullivan of Alaska, fellow Republican Jone Ernst of Iowa and Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona voiced their support for Taiwan’s democracy at the “smooth” meeting, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. The topic of the meeting was also a bill that provides for strict economic and financial sanctions against China in case of invasion of Taiwan.
According to the newspaper, Sullivan spoke of China’s “enormous pressure” on Taiwan and, referring to Tsai’s visit to the US, added: “When a leader of such an important democracy comes to our country, it is more important than ever to ensure that the dictators in Beijing are not dictating who we can and cannot meet, especially on American soil.”
“It hurt the national feelings of 1.4 billion Chinese”
China had warned the United States in advance that House Speaker McCarthy’s reception of Taiwan’s president would further deteriorate relations between the two countries. The meeting “will seriously hurt the national feelings of 1.4 billion Chinese people”, undermine “the political foundation of China-US relations” and “further damage ties”, a spokesman for the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles said earlier. From this week.
APA/AFP/Getty Images/Mario Tama It is the first meeting at this level since 1979
A visit to Taiwan last year by McCarthy’s predecessor at the head of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, caused enormous tension. In August 2022, China conducted extensive military maneuvers around the islands in response to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
Beijing sees such a high-level political meeting as a departure from the principle of the one-China policy, also recognized by the US and which all states that maintain diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China must recognize. The US is also the most important ally of democratically organized Taiwan.
Tense China-US relationship
The Tsai-McCarthy meeting also came at a precarious time in US-China relations. Amid rising tensions, from the crash of an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon to semiconductor supply chains, the US and Beijing have recently tried to “stabilize their communications,” according to CNN.
Taiwanese president met with US leaders
Despite Chinese criticism and threats, US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California.
According to the American broadcaster, if Beijing now “reacts” in a similar way to what happened after the Tsai-Pelosi meeting, these attempts at rapprochement will likely become obsolete again. Taiwan “is still suffering the fallout from that August response, as Chinese forces now routinely cross the previously informal but widely respected Beijing-Taipei border of control across the Taiwan Strait.”