(CNN) Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen issued a dire warning that “democracy is under threat” as she met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday in California, an expected event marking a show of democratic unity. to counter threats from China.
Tsai met with McCarthy and a bipartisan group of US lawmakers at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The landmark meeting was the second time Tsai met with an American lawmaker of that rank within a year, following former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August. Tsai is also the first Taiwanese president to meet with a speaker of the US House on American soil.
“It’s no secret that today the peace that we’ve been pursuing and the democracy that (we’ve) worked so hard to build are facing unprecedented challenges,” Tsai said in remarks with McCarthy. “We once again find ourselves in a world where democracy is under threat and the urgency to keep the light of freedom shining cannot be underestimated.”
The meeting gave Tsai and McCarthy a prominent platform to promote US-Taiwan relations.
“The friendship between the people of Taiwan and America is something of great importance to the free world. It is essential to maintaining economic freedom, peace and stability in the region,” McCarthy said.
“We are stronger when we are together,” Tsai said. “In our efforts to protect our way of life, Taiwan is grateful to have the United States on our side.”
The meeting prompted an angry statement from Beijing, with a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry saying “China firmly opposes and strongly condemns it.”
“In response to the grave wrong actions taken by the United States and Taiwan, China will take firm and resolute measures to protect our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the statement added, urging the US to “stop restraining China by taking advantage of the Taiwan issue” and “not continue on the wrong and dangerous path.”
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul announced Wednesday night that he is leading a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan to meet with business leaders and government officials.
On Wednesday, before the meeting between Tsai and McCarthy, China sent several naval vessels near the coast of Taiwan.
On Wednesday morning local time, Beijing sent a “large patrol and rescue vessel” to the central and northern Taiwan Strait for a three-day “joint patrol and inspection” operation, China’s Fujian Maritime Safety Administration said in a statement. On Wednesday night, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said it had tracked a group of Chinese aircraft carriers, led by the carrier Shandong, that had passed through waters southeast of Taiwan for training in the West. Pacific.
At a news conference after his meeting with Taiwan’s president, McCarthy said China would not dictate who he talks to or where he goes, but said it was “not our intention to escalate” tensions with Beijing.
Asked what his message was to China amid threats of retaliation at the meeting, McCarthy said, “I’m the speaker of the House. He also said, ‘there’s no need for retaliation.’
McCarthy said, “No, it’s not our intention to escalate,” when asked if he was worried the meeting would increase tensions with Beijing.
The Defense Department has not sent any additional assets to the Indo-Pacific region in preparation for any aggressive response by China, a Pentagon spokesman told reporters on Wednesday.
In response to Pelosi’s visit last summer, Beijing launched a series of military exercises around the democratic, self-governing island and suspended several lines of communication with Washington – raising concerns about the response to Tsai sat down with McCarthy on Wednesday, although this meeting. happened in the US.
Tsai’s delegation made a planned stop in California after official visits to Taiwan’s diplomatic allies Guatemala and Belize — part of a 10-day tour to strengthen Taipei’s ties abroad amid mounting pressure. from Beijing.
China’s Consulate General in Los Angeles condemned the expected meeting with McCarthy as “bad for regional peace, security and stability,” warning that it would “destroy the political foundation” of China-US relations.
“We will closely follow the development of the situation and resolutely protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the consulate said in a Monday statement — one of many condemnations from Chinese officials in recent weeks as the meeting reports came out.
The Chinese Communist Party claims the self-governing democracy as its own even though it has yet to take control, and has vowed to take the island, by force if necessary.
Tsai struck a defiant tone when she began her international tour late last month, telling reporters that “external pressure” would not prevent Taiwan from connecting with the world and democracies like in mind.
On Tuesday, the island’s foreign ministry called the Chinese’s repeated criticism of his trip “increasingly unreasonable and unreasonable.”
“Taiwan will not back down, and US friends who support Taiwan and Taiwan-US relations will not back down either. Democratic partners will be more united and have more frequent exchanges,” the statement said.
A big moment for McCarthy and Tsai
A source close to McCarthy told CNN that the meeting was an important moment for the speaker, who has made the creation of a select committee on China one of his top priorities and views the US relationship with China as a central issue of our time.
Wednesday’s meeting included Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, who is a member of the Democratic leadership, and other lawmakers in the US congress.
Tsai’s stops in the US, which included a transit in New York last week, also come amid rising tensions between the US and China.
The two powers have struggled to strengthen their relationship amid friction over issues ranging from tech security to a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that crashed over the US.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries released a statement Wednesday saying he met with Tsai last week during a trip to New York City.
“We had a very productive conversation about mutual security and economic interests between America and Taiwan. We also discussed our shared commitment to democracy and freedom,” Jeffries said in a statement.
Tsai also met with three US senators last week in New York. Republican Sens. Joni Ernst and Dan Sullivan and Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly all met with Tsai, according to sources familiar with the meeting. The Wall Street Journal first reported these meetings.
Reaction from China
Last week Beijing’s top envoy to the US threatened that Tsai’s presence in American cities could lead to a “serious” confrontation in the relationship.
“Beijing may feel it needs to step up because this is another US speaker’s meeting with Tsai less than a year after the first meeting. China is likely trying to prevent the United States from normalizing in such meetings and to ensure that its actions are strong and painful so that the United States and Taiwan understand what China opposes to such activities,” said Bonny Lin, director of the China Power Project in Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Other analysts, however, point to factors such as the location of the US meeting and its timing – as China seeks to renew diplomacy after the pandemic and months before a presidential election. in Taiwan that could reset the tone of its relationship. with Beijing — will see China respond less aggressively than last year.
The White House declined to say in advance whether it supports a meeting between McCarthy and Taiwan’s president.
The US maintains an unofficial relationship with Taiwan and Tsai transits the country so it is not an official visit to keep Washington aligned with its long-standing “One China” policy.
Under the policy, the US recognizes China’s position that Taiwan is part of China, but has never officially recognized Beijing’s claim to the island of 23 million. It is also obligatory by law to provide the democratic island with a means of self-defense.
Congress remains an important pillar of unofficial relations — with delegations of lawmakers visiting the island and pushing laws that boost support or coordination in recent years in the face of growing military, economic and diplomatic pressure on the island from Beijing.
This story and headline have been updated to reflect additional developments.
CNN’s Beijing bureau, Wayne Chang in Hong Kong, Larry Register in Atlanta and Lauren Fox and Manu Raju in Washington contributed to this report.