Speaker McCarthy To Meet Taiwan President Tsai On Wednesday

MNI London: Reuters reporting that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) will meet Taiwan President Tsai ing-Wen in California on Wednesday as Tsai completes the second leg of her 'transit' through the United States.

• The Biden administration has stressed that Tsai's trip is a 'transit' rather than a formal visit and is a common occurrence consistent with the One-China policy.
• White House officials have said Tsai will not meet formally with any members of the Biden administration and the White House has no authority over Congress - a co-equal and independent branch government - but that clarification has historically done little to assuage Beijing who claim that US Congressional delegations to Taiwan and presidential transits contravene Sino-US agreements on Taiwan.
• Tsai's transit comes during a period of exceptional strain between Beijing and Washington. Semafor reports, "there has been no direct contact between the American and Chinese military commands for at least 18 months," and US attempts to set up a security 'hotline' have failed.
• Ambassador to the US, Xu Xueyuan, warned that Tsai’s visit could lead to another “serious confrontation in the China-U.S. relationship.”