Taiwan’s president to visit US increasing tensions between China
2023.03.06 13:55
Taiwan’s president to visit US increasing tensions between China
By Tiffany Smith
Budrigannews.com – Two sources told Reuters on Monday that U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy intends to meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in the United States in the coming weeks. This could replace McCarthy’s anticipated but delicate trip to the democratically governed island claimed by China.
According to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, McCarthy was likely to meet Tsai in the United States and that she had been invited to speak at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library while traveling through California on a planned trip to Central America.
According to one of the sources, McCarthy’s future visit to Taiwan would not necessarily be ruled out if the United States meeting went ahead, which is likely to take place in April.
When Reuters inquired about the matter, McCarthy’s office did not immediately respond, including whether the planned meeting was intended to avoid escalating tensions with China, which was outraged by Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August.
The plans to meet in California were first reported by the Financial Times.
McCarthy stated that he would announce any travel plans as soon as he had them during an earlier interview on Monday with CNBC. He declined to answer the question of whether he would visit Taiwan.
Four additional sources, including U.S. officials and people who know what the U.S. and Taiwan administrations think, said that both sides were very worried that McCarthy’s upcoming visit would make things even worse across the Taiwan Strait at a time when the island is getting ready for its own presidential election in January of next year.
The Reagan Library, the de facto embassy of Taiwan in Washington, and the embassy of China in Washington also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Due to the fact that the Speaker of the House is the next-in-line to the presidency of the United States, China views interactions between Taiwanese officials and those from the United States as a violation of its sovereignty.
However, the United States government has generally avoided meeting with senior Taiwan officials in Washington, despite the fact that Taiwan presidents, including Tsai, have a history of passing through the United States on their way to other nations.
Last year, Pelosi, a Democrat, traveled to Taiwan and met Tsai, defying warnings from China. As a result, China conducted military drills all over the island, raising concerns that Beijing may carry out its threat to take Taiwan by force if necessary.
Since then, Taiwan has welcomed a slew of American lawmakers, and it has been rumored that McCarthy will visit this year. When McCarthy took over as speaker in January after Republicans won control of the House in the midterm elections in November, he expressed an interest in traveling to Taiwan.
Although the United States of America is obligated by U.S. law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, the country does not have formal diplomatic ties with the island.
Washington’s “strategic ambiguity” policy has been in place for a long time. This means that it is unclear whether it would respond militarily to an attack on Taiwan. However, in September, President Joe Biden made his most explicit statement on the subject, stating that U.S. forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
