The leader of the House of Representatives and the president of Taiwan meet in California despite opposition from China

By Jennifer Jett, Alicia Victoria Lozano and Aarne Heikkila -

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in southern California on Wednesday, pledging unwavering support for Taiwan and drawing threats of retaliation from China.

Although the United States has no official ties to Taiwan, a self-ruling democracy that Beijing claims as its territory, it is the island's main international backer and has been increasing its support as Taiwan comes under increasing pressure from China.

McCarthy is the highest-ranking US official to meet a Taiwanese leader on US soil in decades.

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“I think our bond is stronger now than at any time in my life, and of course Speaker Tsai is a great supporter of that bond,” McCarthy, a Republican from California, told reporters after the meeting at the Library. Presidential Ronald Reagan, in Simi Valley, California.

China views such contacts between US and Taiwanese officials as a violation of the one-China principle, under which Washington recognizes Beijing as China's only legitimate government while maintaining unofficial relations with Taipei.

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On Thursday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused Tsai and McCarthy, the third-ranking US government official, of promoting Taiwanese independence.

"In response to the gravely erroneous acts of collusion between the United States and Taiwan, China will take resolute and effective measures to uphold national sovereignty and territorial integrity," it said in a statement.

The White House says visits by senior Taiwanese officials are routine and China should not use Tsai's trip to the United States as a "pretext" for further aggression against Taiwan.

"Beijing must not use the transits as an excuse to take actions that escalate tensions, to keep pushing to change the

," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

As of Thursday afternoon, Beijing had not announced large-scale military drills like the ones it conducted after McCarthy's predecessor Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last August.

McCarthy said on Wednesday that he could still make his own visit to Taiwan in the future.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen shake hands in the Air Force One Pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., on May 5. April 2023. Mario Tama / Getty Images

Tsai, who was passing through the United States after a trip to Guatemala and Belize, said it was fitting that she and McCarthy had gathered at the library in honor of Reagan, whose Administration was instrumental in securing US-Taiwan guarantees in 1982.

Such continued support reassures “the people of Taiwan that we are not isolated and we are not alone,” Tsai declared, at a time of “unprecedented challenges” for both Taiwan and other countries.

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“Once again we find ourselves in a world where democracy is under threat, and the urgency of keeping the beacon of freedom shining cannot be underestimated,” he said.

Outside the library on Wednesday, more than 100 people gathered in a duel of protests between supporters of Taiwan and supporters of China.

A plane was flying over the area with a sign that said

.

Joining McCarthy at the meeting was a bipartisan group of more than a dozen lawmakers, including Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., a member of the House Democratic leadership, and the top Republican and top Democrat on the new committee. Select on China from the House of Representatives.

McCarthy praised the Taiwan-China bipartisan approach, praising New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the ranking House Democrat who met with Tsai during an earlier stop in New York, and other Democrats for their work in the commission on China.

According to Lev Nachman, a political scientist and adjunct professor at National Taipei Chengchi University, the meeting between Tsai and McCarthy is "really win-win" for China, Taiwan and the United States.

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It's a win for China, he said, because McCarthy isn't following in Pelosi's footsteps by traveling to Taiwan, at least for now.

In a statement Wednesday, Pelosi praised the McCarthy-Tsai meeting for "her leadership" and "bipartisan engagement."

Taiwan, which lawmakers from the US and other countries regularly visit, is widely credited with successfully postponing a trip by McCarthy, who "listened and was really able to respect what Taiwan thought was best for itself in this time," Nachman said.

But the United States also benefits, he said, "because McCarthy can still say that he met with the Taiwanese president."

Any immediate reaction from China could be constrained as the Tsai-McCarthy meeting took place on the same day that French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Beijing for a three-day state visit.

He is accompanied by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on a trip that aims to show China a united European front on issues such as trade and the war in Ukraine.

Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, whose opposition party favors closer ties with Beijing, also remains in China for a historic 12-day visit.

Chinese aggression in response to the Tsai-McCarthy meeting could erode support for Ma's Kuomintang party ahead of presidential elections in Taiwan early next year.

Tsai is scheduled to return to Taiwan on Friday.