The Republican leader of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy met Wednesday, April 5, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California, for a meeting that provoked the ire of China.

In the city of Simi Valley, pro-Beijing and pro-Taiwan protesters faced each other outside the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library as the leader, officially in "transit" through the United States, arrived on her way home from a tour of Latin America.

This meeting greatly irritates Beijing, which has promised to "retaliate" – in recent weeks, the Chinese authorities have multiplied angry statements.

China considers Taiwan to be one of its provinces to be retaken, favouring "peaceful reunification", but without excluding the use of force. In the name of its "One China" principle, no country is supposed to have official ties with Beijing and Taipei at the same time.

In a final warning issued Monday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs recalled that "China is firmly opposed" to the meeting between the third figure of the American state and the Taiwanese leader, from a pro-independence party.

Beijing also said it was ready to "firmly defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity", without expressly mentioning possible military maneuvers.

The United States has long maintained a "strategic ambiguity" on the Taiwan issue. This doctrine is as much about deterring China from invading Taiwan as it is about preventing the island's rulers from provoking Beijing by officially declaring its independence.

The Pelosi precedent

Washington has recognized Beijing since 1979, but remains Taiwan's most powerful ally and main arms supplier. Support for the island is one of the few consensuses within both parties in the US Congress and under Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan has moved closer to the US.

Last August, the Taiwanese president received in Taiwan the Democrat Nancy Pelosi, head of the House of Representatives before Kevin McCarthy.

This visit had provoked the anger of Beijing, which had carried out military exercises around the island on a scale not seen since the mid-1990s.

Kevin McCarthy "persists in still wanting to play the Taiwan card" in order to contain Beijing, said Monday the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles. "He will probably make the same mistake again, which will further damage the China-US relationship."

Like Nancy Pelosi, the Republican leader initially wanted to visit Taiwan. He finally opted for a less frontal approach, meeting Tsai Ing-wen with several congressmen in suburban Los Angeles.

The Biden administration also downplayed the significance of the meeting: Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that it was only a "transit" of the Taiwanese leader, not an official visit. He called on Beijing not to use the interview as an "excuse" to "raise tensions."

'China must respond'

"China's response will depend in part ... of what McCarthy will say publicly after the meeting," Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund think tank, told AFP.

But for this specialist, the rhetoric used by Beijing at the time of the meeting with Nancy Pelosi forces the Chinese government to show its muscles again.

"China has already made some pretty threatening statements, which suggests it has to respond one way or another," she said. Without a strong reaction, Chinese President "Xi Jinping may appear weak."

For her part, Tsai Ing-wen, whose presidential term ends next year, is seeking to show that Beijing has failed to diplomatically isolate Taiwan since coming to power in 2016.

China has convinced several countries to stop recognizing Taiwan in recent years – most recently, Honduras announced its decision at the end of March.

Only 13 states still recognize Taiwan, including Belize and Guatemala, which Tsai Ing-wen visited during her tour, after a first stop in New York. Before handing over the reins, the leader wants to cement the confidence of Taiwanese in her party, the Democratic Progressive Party.

"She wants to show her fellow citizens (...) that it has created a strong, strong and unprecedented relationship of trust with the United States, which is very important for Taiwan's security," Glaser said.

With AFP

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