Taiwan's president begins U.S. visit to shore up support despite China threats

Taiwan President is visiting the US in a show of strength despite threats from China over the visit

Taiwan’s President is beginning a swing through the United States and Central America, a visit aimed at showing that her self-ruled island has allies as it faces a rising threat from China.

Taiwan was carefully calibrating President Tsai Ing-wen's stops in the United States, and as always forgoing any official meetings with senior U.S. leaders in Washington, in an effort to contain what China said would be a strong but as yet unspecified response.

Tsai arrived in New York on Wednesday and was scheduled to spend Thursday in the city, but few details of the trip were made public.

A senior Chinese diplomat in Washington, embassy charge d'affaires Xu Xueyan, pointed to an expected meeting between Tsai and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy elsewhere in the country. The meeting would have serious repercussions overall and a “serious, serious, serious” impact on U.S.-China relations, she said in a virtual session with reporters on Wednesday.

Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he hopes any U.S. officials meeting unofficially with the president convey that American support for Taiwan is "strong and unequivocal.”

Taiwan is an important partner for Washington in the Indo-Pacific and a major recipient of U.S. military aid. The U.S., Taiwan and their allies in the region are boosting their military readiness with the aim of deterring or defending against any future military action by China, which claims the island as its own.

Last August, Beijing responded to the visit of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan by launching missiles, deploying warships across the median line of the Taiwan Strait and simulating a blockade of the island. China also temporarily suspended dialogue with the U.S. on climate and other major issues and restricted military-to-military communication with the Pentagon.