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China has threatened to respond if the Speaker of the US House of Representatives meets Taiwan President Tsai Ing Wen who will transit in America next month. Photo/Columbia News
BEIJING – China threatened to respond if the Speaker of the DPR United States of America (USA), Kevin McCarthy, met with the President Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen during her transit to the US next month. China says that such a move would be a provocation.
China, which claims the democratic island of Taiwan as its own, has repeatedly warned US officials not to meet Tsai. Beijing views this as support for the island’s desire to be seen as a separate country.
China staged war games around Taiwan last August when then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, and Taiwan’s armed forces say they are watching China’s every move while Tsai is overseas.
Tsai is scheduled to leave Taiwan for a trip to Guatemala and Belize and will then transit via New York and Los Angeles. Although not officially confirmed, he is expected to meet McCarthy while in California, at the end of his trip.
A spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhu Fenglian, told reporters in Beijing that Tsai’s “transit” in the US would not only be waiting for her at airports or hotels, but also to meet US officials and lawmakers.
“If he makes contact with US House Speaker McCarthy, it will be yet another provocation that seriously violates the ‘One China’ principle, undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and destroys peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
“We resolutely oppose this and will definitely take steps to fight back,” Zhu added, without elaborating further.
The US says such transits by the Taiwanese president are routine and that China should not use Tsai’s trip to pursue aggressive actions against Taiwan.
