China decries Tsai-McCarthy meet, US urges against ‘overreaction’
As expected, China has condemned the encounter between President Tsai Ing-wen and the U.S. House speaker. It said their meeting was a “provocation” and an infringement on China’s sovereignty. Beijing warned that the “Taiwan question” was a red line in U.S.-China relations. In response, Washington urged China against overreacting, reiterating that Tsai’s transit was just business as usual.
CCTV newscaster
The high-profile meeting between Tsai and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the third highest-ranking official of the U.S. government, has gravely violated the “One China” principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, seriously infringed upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and sent seriously wrong signals to the separatist forces for Taiwan independence. The “Taiwan question” is at the very core of China’s core interests and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations.
Following the Tsai-McCarthy meeting, China lashed out in a series of statements, denouncing the U.S. and warning Taiwan of repercussions.
CCTV newscaster
The DPP authorities have misjudged the situation, thinking that strategic competition between China and the U.S. can bring opportunities to cling to U.S. support to seek independence, and have unscrupulously ganged up with external forces. They are under the illusion that, by clutching to the United States, they can be even more utterly brazen in their provocative attempt to seek "independence" and betray the interests of the Chinese nation. Tsai’s “transit” is nothing more than a cover for the schemes of seeking "independence."
The meeting sparked concerns that China would repeat the aggressive campaign it launched last August, when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. The White House has urged China to not overreact.
Voice of John Kirby
US National Security Council
Our position remains the same. There is no reason for the Chinese to overreact in any way.
Karine Jean-Pierre
White House press secretary
…Taiwan is doing, this is something that’s been part of a long U.S. tradition. And so, again, we just do not see, there should not be a reason for the PCR [PRC] to overreact here.
The choice of Reagan Library as the meeting venue has symbolic significance, pundits say, noting that it represents freedom and the fight against authoritarianism. Sources say Taiwan and the U.S. were in close communication before the meeting, to prevent Beijing’s threats from harming the bilateral friendship.
Chao Tien-lin
DPP lawmaker
The U.S. is careful to improve Taiwan-U.S. relations without creating regional tensions. President Tsai Ing-wen is very low-key and does not openly discuss such things. Even in the days before her arrival in Los Angeles, she let the U.S. announce the relevant details.
The lawmaker praised the show of unity between Taiwan and the U.S. in the face of pressure from Beijing.
2023-04-06
