"Podium for separatists": China reacts outraged at McCarthy's reception for Taiwan's president in the USA

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen met Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy near Los Angeles.

Beijing reacted with outrage - but has so far refrained from military revenge

Los Angeles/Munich – Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy received Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California on Wednesday.

At the meeting in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Los Angeles, McCarthy emphasized the need for accelerated arms deliveries to Taiwan in view of the increasing threat from China.

Tsai stressed that US support shows, "We are not isolated, not alone."

McCarthy is the highest-ranking US politician to have met with Taiwanese leaders on US soil in decades.

Congressmen from both parties also attended the meeting.

Tsai was accompanied by Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, among others.

At a news conference in Brussels, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was nothing new about Tsai's transit and that such stops were "private" and "unofficial".

For a “private” meeting, however, a considerable number of leading politicians came together.

China: Outraged reaction from Beijing – but initially no major maneuvers

As expected, Beijing reacted with outrage.

China's Foreign Ministry accused the US of "providing a podium for Taiwan separatists to conduct US-Taiwan official exchanges and strengthen US-Taiwan relations."

The Taiwan issue is "the first red line in Sino-US relations that must not be crossed" and Taiwan's independence is "reaching an impasse."

China had warned of such a meeting in advance - and threatened unspecified consequences.

The military reaction was initially more restrained than during the visit of McCarthy's predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, to Taipei last summer.

At that time, China held large-scale maneuvers around Taiwan for days.

The Defense Ministry in Taipei said on Thursday that a

Chinese naval fleet led by the aircraft carrier

Shandong

is currently on a "training mission," ministry spokesman Chiu Kuo-cheng said

+

US Speaker of Parliament Kevin McCarthy receives Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen in California: Anger in Beijing

© MARIO TAMA/AFP

As early as Wednesday, maritime authorities in the Chinese province of Fujian, across from Taiwan, launched a three-day special patrol and inspection operation in the Taiwan Strait, which also includes shipboard visits.

Taiwan had lodged a fierce protest against the action with China.

But it stayed that way for the time being.

However, the reluctance could be temporary: On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with China's state leadership - an overly martial reaction would cause annoying background noise.

USA: McCarthy for more arms sales to Taiwan

At the press conference after the meeting, McCarthy said they discussed how arms shipments to Taiwan could be expedited.

"We must continue arms sales to Taiwan and ensure these sales reach Taiwan in a very timely manner," he stressed.

He believes that there is a cross-party agreement on this.

Indeed, the hard line against China is one of the few issues that unites both US parties;

for most, this also includes stronger support for Taiwan.

"Second, we must strengthen our economic cooperation, especially in trade and technology."

Mike Gallagher, Republican chairman of the House's new committee on dealing with the Chinese Communist Party, said he wants to explore ways to ship Harpoon anti-ship missiles to Taiwan ahead of the already agreed-upon shipment to Saudi Arabia.

Reuters quoted US officials as saying that weapons like the Harpoon missile are far more important to Taiwan's defense than heavy weapons like tanks and planes, which the island's military has traditionally bought from the United States.

A strategic reorientation on this topic has also begun in Taiwan itself.

Various US military officers have repeatedly warned of imminent attacks on Taiwan.

Blinken agrees that China could be ready to invade by 2027.

So far, however, there have been no signs of preparing for such an invasion.

The situation is still tense.

Ex-president of the opposition party KMT continues to travel through China

US arms shipments usually cause particular trouble in China.

But not only the visit of Macron and von der Leyen should have prevented an escalating reaction.

Also the

Taiwan's ex-president Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan's current opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), is in China.

He had referred to people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait as "one Chinese family";

his party is generally in favor of more dialogue with Beijing.

Ma and Song Tao, China's director of Taiwan Affairs Bureau, had pledged friendly relations to each other at a meeting in Wuhan.

China and Taiwan: That's what the conflict is about

China and Taiwan: That's what the conflict is about

Violent threatening gestures would harm Ma's party in Taiwan in the early primaries.

In 2024, Taiwan will elect a successor to Tsai, who after two terms in office is no longer allowed to run.

Beijing always relies on an election victory for the KMT.

Although the KMT is also not aiming for reunification any time soon, relations between Taipei and Beijing have been calmer under KMT presidents like Ma.

Tsai Ing-wen's DPP came from the pro-independence movement;

Tsai himself does not recognize the one China principle.

The President had already stopped in New York on her way to Central America.

At that time, too, Beijing was already warning of a “serious confrontation”.

According to her office, Tsai had also met MPs in New York, including the leading Democrat in the House of Representatives Hakeem Jeffries and several US senators.

List of rubrics: © MARIO TAMA/AFP