Taiwan leader's discussion with McCarthy could cause a 'big' reaction from China, says the analyst

March 31, 2023: A meeting between Taiwan’s leader and U.S. House Speaker will generate a strong reaction from China, expressed Anna Ashton, China director at the Eurasia firm.

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen will meet face-to-face with Kevin McCarthy when she makes a transit visit through Los Angeles the following week. Tsai is on a 10-day trip to visit Central American allies, Belize and Guatemala.

The meeting with McCarthy has yet to be officially confirmed.

“The reality is that McCarthy is next in line for the presidency. A meeting like this would be the senior-most U.S. official discussion with a sitting Taiwan president on U.S. soil,” Aston told on Thursday.

“Beijing has already cautioned about their opposition to this meeting, and we could see a response, even as big as after the Pelosi visit.”

Last year, then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met President Tsai in a high-profile visit that infuriated Beijing.

Before that visit, the Chinese military held live-firing things near Taiwan and banned imports of various goods from the island, which include Taiwanese sweets and biscuits.

Relations amid the U.S. and China have been going downhill, analysts warn. Next week’s meeting amid Tsai and McCarthy will likely increase tensions.

China has said that the issue with Taiwan is an internal affair. Beijing stated that the self-governed island is part of its territory and maintained that Taiwan should have no right to create foreign relations.

The Biden administration has been keen to play down Tsai’s latest transit, calling it “unofficial.”

“In all previous transits, she has met with people of Congress, and local and state officials, and had public discussions,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, said on Wednesday.

China’s foreign ministry had strengthened its words for the U.S.

“The trip is not so much a ‘transfer,’ but an attempt to seek breakthroughs and start ‘Taiwan independence,” spokeswoman, Mao Ning, said at a regular press briefing on Wednesday.

“The issue is not regarding China overreacting, but the U.S. egregiously conniving at and in support of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists,” she further stated.