The US State Department on Wednesday made it clear that it would not be opposed to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen coming to California to meet with Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Agerpres said with reference to AFP.

McCarthy confirmed on Tuesday that he would meet with the president in his home state of California, avoiding for now a visit to Taiwan that could exacerbate already high tensions with Beijing.

He has expressed a desire to go to Taiwan, as Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who held the post before him, did in August 2022. The visit prompted China to conduct unprecedented military maneuvers around the island.

“The transit of high-ranking Taiwanese officials to the United States is consistent with long-standing US policy and our informal but strong relationship with Taiwan,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.

He was talking about a “transit” and not a “visit” of the president of Taiwan to the United States.

“There is nothing new in this. This is completely in line with the status quo” on the island, he said, noting that Tsai Ing-wen has traveled through the United States six times since taking office in 2016.

The last visit by a Taiwanese president to the United States was in 2019, during a stopover on an official trip to the Caribbean.

Beijing opposes any official or military contacts between the island’s authorities and foreign countries, according to Agerpres.