It is an interview rich in symbols for Taiwan but which makes the Chinese authorities jump. US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy confirmed on Monday (April 3rd) a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, despite threats of retaliation from China.

The meeting is scheduled Wednesday in suburban Los Angeles, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, with several other elected members of Congress, said the team of Speaker McCarthy in a statement Monday.

China has vowed to "retaliate" a possible meeting between the two officials.

Beijing believes that Taiwan, with a population of 24 million, is one of its provinces that it has yet to reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

She sees with dissatisfaction the rapprochement at work in recent years between the Taiwanese authorities and the United States, which has provided the island with military support against Beijing for several decades.

The principle of "one China" threatened, according to Beijing

Tsai Ing-wen's stops in the United States come at a key time, as Beijing has increased military, economic and diplomatic pressure on the island.

Taiwan is now recognized by only 13 countries.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen, in power since 2016, embarked on the diplomatic tour to strengthen the island's diplomatic ties with its allies, just days after severing relations with Honduras.

After a first stop in New York on Wednesday, the president of Taiwan visited Guatemala and Belize. These countries thus become the stake of a diplomatic showdown with Beijing.

In the name of its "one China" principle, no country is supposed to have official ties with Beijing and Taipei at the same time.

"A usual practice," says Washington

Washington, which granted diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979, is the island's most powerful ally and main arms supplier.

Last August, the visit to Taiwan of Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the US House of Representatives, provoked the ire of Beijing.

China retaliated for massive military exercises around the island – an unprecedented show of force.

"We urge the United States not to continue to play with fire on the Taiwan issue... Those who play with fire will perish by fire. It's not a threat," Xu Xueyuan, chargé d'affaires at the Chinese embassy, said in Washington.

"China has absolutely no reason to overreact to this usual practice," the US diplomacy had responded last week.

With AFP

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