The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday (March 8) said it was “gravely concerned” over reports that Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen plans to visit the US and meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in California.
“We are gravely concerned over this and have made serious démarches to the US side demanding clarification,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters.
She added that Beijing “firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the US and the Taiwan region, firmly opposes any visit by ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist leaders to the US in any name under whatever pretext, and firmly opposes the US having any form of contact with ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist elements.”
According to The Financial Times, Tsai is planning to visit the US in April, and Taiwanese officials convinced McCarthy to meet her there instead of traveling to Taiwan over fears of provoking a major Chinese response.
When then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) visited Taiwan last August, China responded by launching its largest-ever military exercises around the island.
Source: Antiwar.com
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