McCarthy assures Taiwan’s Tsai ‘ties with US are strong’

BLOOMBERG

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy emerged from a meeting with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen stressing the importance of the relationship between the two sides to economic freedom, peace and stability in the region.
Neither leader mentioned China in their joint public remarks, even as the meeting in Southern California provided a new challenge in the already fraught relations between Washington and Beijing.
“I believe our bond is stronger now than at any time or point in my lifetime,” McCarthy told reporters after the meeting, held at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Balance of Power, McCarthy, a California Republican, reiterated that the US, in his view, had “never spoken with one voice when it comes to China.”
But he said the new House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party marks an effort towards bipartisan clarity in terms of US policy.
McCarthy also said of Communist Party’s criticism of his meeting with Tsai, “They can’t dictate who the speaker of the House can meet with.” McCarthy, who has travelled to Beijing three times, said he would
“gladly” meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
He deflected when asked whether he would support US military action in the case of an invasion of Taiwan, saying “This is a hypothetical question we would never want to get to.”
He said earlier that the US must continue arms sales to Taiwan while also strengthening economic cooperation, particularly on trade and technology.
The speaker said at a press conference that he didn’t have any plans to travel to the island but didn’t rule it out. He added that he would only go there with a bipartisan delegation.
At the request of the Taiwanese government, McCarthy put off a promised trip, at least until after Taiwan’s presidential elections next January. He has acknowledged concerns over escalation, despite demands for an even more hawkish stance from some fellow Republicans.
Democrats, including Representative Pete Aguilar of California, attended meeting and flanked McCarthy at a press conference.