US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California
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Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen with her Guatemalan counterpart Alejandro Giammattei (second from right) during a visit to a hospital in Chimaltenango, Guatemala, on Sunday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – Republican US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Monday he would meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California on Wednesday, a move China said would be a provocation.
“On Wednesday, April 5, Speaker Kevin McCarthy will be hosting a bipartisan meeting with the President of Taiwan at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library,” his office announced in a statement.
China has warned the United States that it is “playing with fire” over the trip by Ms Tsai, who is in New York on what is officially a transit stopover on her way to Latin America.
She will make a stopover in California on her way back to Taiwan and meet Mr McCarthy, his statement said, while US media reported that around 20 US lawmakers planned to accompany the speaker.
China in August carried out major military exercises around Taiwan
Mr McCarthy, the top Republican in Congress, earlier vowed to follow Democrat Nancy Pelosi, whom he succeeded as speaker, by travelling to Taiwan.
The meeting in his home state of California had been viewed as a middle ground that would avoid inflaming tensions with China. REUTERS
