China Launches Military Patrols Near Taiwan As Tsai & McCarthy Meet
BY TYLER DURDEN
WEDNESDAY, APR 05, 2023
For the second time within a year, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen will meet with a sitting US House Speaker. This time it could prove just as provocative as Nancy Pelosi's August trip to Taipei, which triggered massive Chinese PLA drills which encircled Taiwan, and saw Chinese forces repeatedly breach the median line in the Taiwan Strait.
She's meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California’s Simi Valley on Wednesday, alongside a bipartisan group of US lawmakers.
The military has already stepped up patrols near Taiwan, and is expected to conduct more muscle-flexing on news the meeting has commenced.
"Special joint patrol and inspection operation began today in the central and northern parts of the Taiwan Strait," the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration announced Wednesday. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning the day prior reiterated that the Tsai-McCarthy meeting contradicts the One China principle.
Tsai is currently on a 10-day trip to the US, including visits to two Central American states that are among the 13 global countries which formally recognize Taiwan independence.
China’s Consulate General in Los Angeles lashed out ahead of the McCarthy meeting, saying it is "not conducive to regional peace, security and stability," while warning it will "undermine the political foundation" of China-US relations.
"We will closely follow the development of the situation and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity," the consulate said Monday.
The White House has urged Beijing not to 'overreact' - with NSC spokesman John Kirby saying Wednesday, that there's "no reason for China to overreact to the McCarthy-Tsai meeting".