US House Speaker McCarthy to Meet Taiwan Prez Tsai despite China’s Warning, Combat Exercises

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy may meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen this week in California and show that the US can stand up to Beijing but at the same time not spark a conflict in the Indo-Pacific.

The meeting is important for both Tsai Ing-wen and the Republican McCarthy. Tsai meeting McCarthy in Los Angeles, not Taipei ensures that it will not provoke Beijing (to such an extent that it) will launch military exercises as it did when McCarthy’s predecessor Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, sparking war drills in the Taiwan Strait.

However, McCarthy is keen on following the footsteps of his predecessor. He told reporters that his meeting with Tsai has nothing to do with his plans to go to Taiwan.

“China can’t tell me where or when to go, and none of that discussion ever happened. If the president happens to be in America, then I’m going to meet with her,” McCarthy said.

The meeting for McCarthy is also his chance to make his mark on US foreign policy with an eye on China, the Hill said in its report. The Hill pointed out that when he was elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives, one of first decisions was to set up a House select committee on China with the assistance of his predecessor Pelosi. He tried to do so in 2020 as well but at that time the Democrats backed out.

McCarthy recently told fellow Republicans that it is important to ensure that Chinese President Xi Jinping does not think of “capturing Taiwan”, while expressing his concerns regarding the recent meeting between Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

China earlier warned Tsai against meeting US officials even though Tsai has said she is ‘transiting’ through the US.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces held war drills with newly commissioned weapons and equipment prior to Tsai’s possible meeting with McCarthy.

It used flotilla consisting Type 054A frigate Xiangtan, the Type 052D destroyer Taiyuan and the Sovremenny-class destroyer Taizhou attached to the PLA Eastern Theater Command Navy to carry out a combat exercise, the Global Times reported citing a press release from the PLA Eastern Theater Command.

The Global Times report said that the PLA practised anti-submarine, anti-ship, live-fire shooting and joint maritime search and rescue moves to boost “decision-making and coordination capabilities” of the soldiers.

The PLA also deployed Su-30 and J-10 fighter jets which carried out “confrontational air combat drill at midnight”.

Read all the Latest News here