Posted on 03/06/2023 4:55:40 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Taiwan's president Tsai Ing-wen has convinced House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to downgrade a planned trip to Taipei, and instead meet in California in order to avoid an 'aggressive Chinese military response,' the Financial Times reports.
According to several people familiar with the situation, Tsai and McCarthy agreed to downgrade the visit because of Taiwanese security concerns, as tensions run high between Beijing and Washington. The move is a backtrack for McCarthy, who said last summer that he would visit Taiwan if elected Speaker of the House.
The venue change comes as the US steps up contingency planning for the region — one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints — and highlights the impact of China’s military posturing to constrain Taiwan and undermine its de facto independence.
Washington has been rife with speculation about whether McCarthy would visit Taipei. Advocates of a trip say senior US lawmakers should show support for the country in the face of rising Chinese aggression, while critics argue that high-profile visits provoke China without helping Taiwan. -FT
According to a senior Taiwanese official, McCarthy's team was provided with "some intelligence about what the Chinese Communist party is recently up to and the kinds of threats they pose," adding that China is "not in a good situation."
In August, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) sparked China's fury after visiting Taiwan - the first such trip by a US Speaker in 25 years. In response, the CCP held giant military exercises which included the firing of ballistic missiles over the country for the first time in history.
"There might be policies even more irrational than in the past emanating from Beijing," said the Taiwanese official to FT. "If we can try to control this together, the risks it brings for everybody can be contained better."
US officials have recently played down suggestions of an imminent Chinese attack on Taiwan, but the Biden administration is stepping up contingency planning with allies.
President Joe Biden has on four occasions over the past four years said the US would intervene if China launched an unprovoked attack on Taiwan. -FT
According to McCarthy, Taiwan's concerns over a provocation were "reasonable."
"This will accomplish McCarthy’s objective of elevating the issue and demonstrating he is willing to meet her, but the nature of the meeting physically happening in the US instead of Taiwan will also make it more difficult for Beijing to respond in the same provocative way like they did after the Pelosi visit," said Eric Sayers, an Asia expert at the American Enterprise Institute.
On Monday, Taiwanese defense minister Chiu Kuo-cheng warned that the PLA was "looking for pretexts like foreign senior officials visiting or us conducting military exchanges with other countries" in order to take more aggressive action.
I'm just going there for a personal tour?
“Taiwan Convinces Speaker Kevin McCarthy To Downgrade Taipei Trip To Avoid Angering China”
The PROBLEM is that McCarthy is as much of a Neocon as the psychos in the State Department demanding WW3 with Russia.
So I doubt McCarthy will listen, in the end.
“ In response, the CCP held giant military exercises which included the firing of ballistic missiles over the country for the first time in history.”
Actually Chicoms did that in 1995/1996.
Didn’t Pelosi go there last year? What gives.
bkmk
maybe he should send pelosi....she received a big welcome on her visit to Taiwan.
Seems ideal time for China to make a move, since we committed a lot of arms to Ukraine already.
And Mccarthy spent all that time practicing his subservient bowing from old Obama videos for the Beijing trip after the Taipei one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I2xYh9mfaI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rhUozm8sSI
“instead meet in California in order to avoid an ‘aggressive Chinese military response,’ the Financial Times reports.”
He’s not doing the in your face Pelosi tour. I suggest once we import from China the machine tools to be able to replace the ammo and resources being wasted in Ukraine, we tell them what for.
Not weapons relevant to a defense of Taiwan.
Corrected Headline: “ China convinces MCCarthy to scratch China trip.”
Taiwan is a big deal. A very large proportion of global trade goes in and around Taiwan.
How does it feel, Kevin, that Nanzi hasbigger juevos than you do?
This is sad, but expected.
It was probably part of a back channel deal to keep China from supplying Russia. Along with telling China they can split Siberia when Russia fails.
These people wanna prove that their powerful people that’s why they go there, To show their not afraid of the backwards Chinese. And they’ll fight to the very last person in Taiwan to prove it
Taiwan actually turned down an offer from the United States to sell them a bunch of submarines because they found them to be over priced
So the fact that the Traitors Joe and Hunter Biden ,plus the entire democrat party have made the Chinese stronger than ever it’s McCarthys fault
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