NEW YORK: Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has arrived in New York amid China’s threats of ‘serious repercussions’ if she meets US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
China, which claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory, has repeatedly warned US officials not to meet Tsai, who is making her first US transit since 2019, seeing it as a show of support for the island’s desire to be seen as a separate country.
Tsai made the sensitive US stopover on her way to Guatemala and Belize in a visit to shore up alliances in Central America. She was greeted by competing crowds of protesters and supporters outside her hotel in New York.
Although not officially confirmed, the Taiwanese President is expected to meet the senior US political leader while returning through Los Angeles at the end of her 10-day trip.
China has condemned any such meeting, saying any such move would be a “provocation” and could lead to a “serious confrontation”.
In response, the US has urged Beijing to not overreact to Tsai’s trip.
The White House’s national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Wednesday that Washington hopes to see a “normal, uneventful transit”, noting that this is Tsai’s seventh stopover in the US during her time as Taiwanese leader.
He said such transits were a common occurrence and there was nothing unusual about this, adding that other presidents of Taiwan have transited the United States as well.
In response to her arrival in the United States, China’s senior envoy in US accused Washington of advocating for Taiwan’s independence by allowing Tsai to “make a splash” in their country.
“No matter [whether] it is Taiwanese leaders coming to the United States or the US leaders visiting Taiwan, it could lead to another serious confrontation in the China-US relationship,” Xu Xueyuan, China’s Chargé d’Affaires, said in a press conference.
By allowing Tsai in the US, Washington “seriously undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Ms Xu said.
Taiwanese presidents routinely make stopovers in the US while visiting diplomatic allies in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific. Although not official visits, they are often used by both sides for high-level meetings.
Beijing’s ‘one-China’ policy
Beijing claims that China and Taiwan belong to “one China”, and that as a Chinese province Taiwan does not have any right of state-to-state ties.
Although, Taiwan’s government strongly rejects China’s sovereignty claims and while Tsai has said that only the island’s people can decide their future, she has also time and again offered to hold talks with Beijing.
