China threatens brutal war on Taiwan and America after President Tsai Ing-wen meeting with house speaker Kevin McCarthy.
China has said that the United States and Taiwan were going through a “wrong and dangerous road.” after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s meeting with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen.
In a show of support, Kevin McCarthy along with a bipartisan delegation of more than a dozen U.S. lawmakers hosted Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday.
However, the Biden administration claims there is nothing suspicious and provocative about the visit by Tsai, even as the relationship between America and China is at its lowest point in history.
Tensions are again on the rise with U.S. highly suspected support for Taiwan, a territory China sees as its off-shoot and does not want any ties with the island and the West.
However, China can see it as an escalation as no speaker is known to have met with a Taiwan president on U.S. soil since the U.S. broke off formal diplomatic relations in 1979.
Responding to the meeting, Beijing in a statement issued on Thursday morning by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said it would take “resolute and forceful measures to defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Warning the U.S. “not to walk further down a wrong and dangerous road.”
In December, China sent 71 military planes and seven ships toward Taiwan in a 24-hour show of force to express its anger at Taiwan-related provisions in America’s annual defense budget. China’s military pressure campaign on Taiwan has also intensified in recent years, sending planes or ships toward the island almost on a daily basis.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office referred to Tsai and her political party as separatists in a statement on Thursday.
“We will take resolute measures to punish the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and their actions, and resolutely safeguard our country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
U.S. Congressional visits to Taiwan have increased in the previous year, and the American Institute in Taipei, the de facto embassy, announced the arrival of another delegation Thursday. House Foreign Affairs Committee head Michael McCaul of Texas is leading a delegation of eight other lawmakers for a three-day visit to discuss regional security and trade, according to a statement from AIT.
After Tsai and McCarthy’s meeting on Wednesday, the U.S. House Speaker in a news conference said, “America’s support for the people of Taiwan will remain resolute, unwavering, and bipartisan. He also added that the U.S.-Taiwan ties are stronger than at any other point in his life.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said the “unwavering support reassures the people of Taiwan that we are not isolated,” saying that she and McCarthy spoke of the importance of Taiwan’s self-defense, of fostering robust trade and economic ties and supporting the island government’s ability to participate in the international community.
However, she acknowledged the threat from China saying; “It is no secret that today the peace that we have maintained and the democracy which we have worked hard to build are facing unprecedented challenges.”
“We once again find ourselves in a world where democracy is under threat and the urgency of keeping the beacon of freedom shining cannot be understated,” she added.
The United States officially broke off ties with Taiwan in 1979 while formally establishing diplomatic relations with the Beijing government. As part of its recognition of China, the U.S. “One China” policy acknowledges that Beijing lays claim to Taiwan, but does not endorse China’s claim. Also, the U.S. remains Taiwan’s key provider of military and defense assistance.