On Wednesday, China vowed to “fight back” if Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen meets the US House speaker during a trip to the United States. Tsai departed on Wednesday for the United States, from where she will travel to Guatemala and Belize to shore up relations with diplomatic supporters. On her way back to Taiwan she will stop in California, where US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had said he would meet her.
China claims the democratic island as part of its territory to be recaptured one day and, under its “One China” regulation, no nation may hold official ties with both China and Taiwan.
China warned on Wednesday that it was “resolutely opposed” to any discussion between Tsai and McCarthy and pledged to take “resolute actions to fight back” if it moves ahead.
If Tsai engages with US House Speaker McCarthy, it will be another provocation that seriously violates the One China principle, undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
Zhu Fenglian-Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson
Tsai’s trip follows Honduras’s decision this month to open diplomatic relations with China, leaving Belize and Guatemala among just 13 nations that have official ties with Taiwan.
External pressure will not hinder our determination to go global. We are calm and confident. We will not succumb and we will not provoke others.”
Tsai told reporters at the airport before leaving
In her visit, Tsai will meet her Guatemalan counterpart Alejandro Giammattei and Belize Prime Minister John Briceno in their respective countries, her office said. She will then stop in Los Angeles on her way home. McCarthy has said he will meet Tsai in California, although the meeting is yet to be confirmed by Taiwanese authorities.
A visit by McCarthy’s predecessor to Taiwan last year sparked a furious response from China, with the Chinese military running exercises at an unusual scale around the island.
There’s absolutely no reason for China to use that as a pretext to overreact or to engage in further coercion directed at Taiwan, a senior US administration official told reporters on condition of anonymity, adding that the stopover did not represent a change in US policy.
China’s foreign ministry said the United States blindly connives with and supports Taiwan’s independence and secessionist forces.
Mao Ning, Ministry spokesperson urged the US at a briefing to prevent any form of official talks with Taiwan and to stop the harmful act of damaging the political foundation of China-US relations.
