Tsai Ing-wen will be in New York until Friday and will travel to Los Angeles next week.
Taiwan’s chief of staff flew to the United States for the first time in three years. And although it does not plan any official negotiations and meetings in the country, China has already called the very fact of Tsai Ing-wen’s stay on American soil a provocation.
The United States is just a stopover for the Taiwanese leader en route to Central America, Guatemala and Belize. However, this stopover is not short-lived – the head of the Taiwanese administration arrived in New York on March 29 and will stay there until Friday. And on the way back, he will stop in Los Angeles.
In the Celestial Empire, which considers Taiwan its territory and does not accept the island’s independence, they have already declared that they regard Tsai Ing-wen’s trip to the United States as a provocation.
“We strongly oppose any form of official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan,” Chinese Foreign Ministry officials said.
Zhu Fenglian, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of China’s State Council, said China’s response would be decisive if contact between Tsai Ing-wen and Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy became known. According to the official, such a meeting would be a gross violation of the “one China” principle, and strong retaliatory measures would ensue.
The Celestial Empire has indicated that it is closely monitoring the development of events and will resolutely protect the sovereignty of the state and the territorial integrity of the country.
Earlier, John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator at the White House National Security Council, said US administration officials did not plan to meet with the Taiwanese administration chief while he is in the United States. The United States said it had “many diplomatic consultations” with China because of Tsai Ing-wen’s visit.
Photo: Office of the President of the Republic of China, wikimedia.org Meanwhile, some media have previously reported on a possible meeting between the leader of Taiwan and Congressman McCarthy. In particular, according to the Financial Times, such a meeting is planned in California to avoid aggressive rhetoric from China in the event of a visit by a congressman to the island. Bloomberg later confirmed those plans.
Obviously, this stoppage of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in the United States creates even more tension between the United States and China. If something goes wrong, the situation can spiral out of control. This complicates US President Joe Biden’s attempts to talk to Xi Jinping.
In addition, Tsai Ing-wen’s trip comes at a critical time for Taiwan – Honduras, which previously recognized the island as a separate state, has said it will establish “official relations” with China. Previously, other countries in the region – Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Panama – had refused official relations with Taiwan.
Taiwan on the map Taiwan is a hot spot for China. The island is called one of the places where World War III can break out. Relations have been strained since the outrageous visit to the island by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August last year. From time to time, China sends ships and planes to the island, for which Taipei deploys missile kits.
Since 1949, Taiwan has been under the control of an autonomous administration, but is recognized by most countries in the world as one of the provinces of China. The government of Taiwan is recognized by about 14 countries – these are mostly small states like Haiti and Belize. Washington has not officially recognized Taiwan, but is considered Taipei’s most important ally, especially in military matters. Taiwan buys American weapons, American ships regularly pass through the Taiwan Strait and Washington uses the territorial question linked to the island to put pressure on Beijing.
The Celestial Empire, meanwhile, adheres to the “one China” policy and seeks to make Taiwan part of the mainland. There is every chance that this will happen: in November, municipal elections were held in Taiwan, which the Democratic Progressive Party, in power for the past few years, failed. After that, the country’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, actually ceased to be its leader (she retained her position, but lost the majority). Ahead is the presidential election, which will be held in early 2024. If power completely passes into the hands of the Kuomintang party, it will certainly change the relationship between Taiwan and China for the better.
Earlier, Notepad told how to save for a new apartment in Russia. Something will happen? The Taiwan chief flew to the United States for the first time in three years. China considers it a provocation that
