Amid a planned meeting between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA.) and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, China has threatened to retaliate against Taiwan and the United States.
Beijing has claimed the U.S. is secretly pushing for Taiwan’s independence, threatening “resolute countermeasures” in retaliation if the meeting between the two goes ahead.
Tsai and McCarthy are scheduled to meet on Wednesday (April 5), when the Taiwanese President will be visiting Los Angeles, California.
Zhu Fenglian, China’s Cabinet Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson, revealed Beijing “firmly oppose[s] this and will take resolute countermeasures.”
Fenglian made the remarks during a press conference on Wednesday (March 29).
The Beijing official also warned the U.S. to “refrain from arranging” the Taiwanese President’s visit to Los Angeles and “contact with American officials.”
Beijing was also adamant in warning Washington to “take concrete actions to fulfill its solemn commitment not to support Taiwan[‘s] independence.”
Tsai will begin her visit to the U.S. in New York on Thursday (March 30). She will then be heading to Belize and Guatemala for several days before returning to Los Angeles next week to meet with McCarthy.
Recently, China has been pressuring Taiwan — which governs independently as a democracy —diplomatically, going as far as mobilizing its military forces across the island nation.
Communist-ruled mainland China has also cautioned regional countries and the West not to interfere with Taiwan’s independence, sharing similar threats it made to the United States with other countries.
China continues to make these threats despite the United States officially recognizing the One-China policy, which states China has sovereignty over Taiwan.
