TAIPEI, 4 Apr: Taiwan pushed back against threats of retaliation by China, ahead of an expected meet-ing between the island’s president and the U.S. House speaker Wednesday that will underscore her government’s claim to sovereignty.
President Tsai Ing-wen is finishing a tour of Taiwan’s remaining diplomatic allies in Latin America, Belize and Guatemala. The most poli-tically sensitive part of her trip will be a meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles while she transits on her way back home.
China views Taiwan as its own territory and treats any dealings between U.S. and Taiwanese officials as a chall-enge to its sovereignty. Tsai’s tour is a bid to demonstrate that her government has international support.
Belize and Guatemala are two of just 13 countries that formally recognize Taiwan, a number that has dipped as China has put pressure on and funneled money into isolating the island. Tsai’s Latin American trip comes just a week after Honduras announced it was cutting ties with Taiwan in favor of China, potentially prompted by a $300 million hydroelectric dam project in central Honduras built by a Chinese company.
Last week, and again on Monday, China threatened with countermeasures if Tsai met with McCarthy. The Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles issued a statement Monday saying it opposed any “any form of contact” between Taiwan authorities and the U.S.
“The reality and current situation that both sides of the (Taiwan) Strait belong to one China is very clear,” the statement said.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said at a daily news briefing Tuesday that China “will closely follow the develop-ments and resolutely def-end national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it has never been part of China, and that China’s recent criticism has become increasingly “absurd.”
“Taiwan, the Republic of China, is a sovereign coun-try, and has the right to make its own determination in developing relations with other countries in the world,” it said in a statement. “It does not accept interfe-rence or suppression by any country for any reason, and will not limit itself because of intimidation or interference.” (AP)