US House speaker meets Taiwan leader

GBNEWS24DESK//

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was set to sit down with Taiwan’s president yesterday for a highly symbolic meeting in California that has already prompted outrage and dire warnings from China. The meeting outside Los Angeles comes on what is technically a stopover for President Tsai Ing-wen, after her two-country trip in Latin America to visit Taiwan’s few remaining official allies. A pro-China demonstration also gathered nearby chanting “One China”, as Tsai arrived Tuesday evening, following her Central American tour. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and balks at any official contact Taipei has with other countries. This week, it warned McCarthy, a Republican and California native who is second in line to the US presidency, that he was “playing with fire” by meeting Tsai. “China is strongly opposed to the US arranging for Tsai Ing-wen to transit through its territory..,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters.