On Wednesday, the State Department signaled it would have no objection to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen traveling to California to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican.

Mr. McCarthy confirmed on Wednesday that he would see President Tsai in his home state while avoiding a visit to Taipei, raising the risk of further escalation of tensions with China.

He expressed his intention to go to Taiwan, as his Democratic predecessor Nancy Pelosi did in August 2022, pushing Beijing to move unprecedented military training centers around the island.

“The transit of senior Taiwanese officials from the United States is in line with our longstanding policy and our informal but strong relationship with Taiwan,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.

He tried, according to common practice, to talk about the “transit”, and not about the “visit” of the Taiwanese president to the United States.

“This is nothing new. It is completely in line with the status quo,” Mr. Price insisted, noting that the Taiwanese president has “transferred” from the United States six times since taking office in 2016.

Ms. Tsai last visited the US in 2019, when there was talk of a “stopover” during her official visit to the Caribbean.

China opposes any official political or military contact between foreign governments and authorities on the island, which it considers a breakaway province.

Washington is Taiwan’s main protectorate, although it officially recognizes the government in Beijing as China’s sole legitimate representative under the “one China” policy.

The Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives has not ruled out visiting Taiwan in the future.

Source: RES-IPE