Speaker McCarthy Reaches for Superlatives in Coast Meeting With Free Chinese Leader

Rarely is the nation’s highest-ranking Republican in such close accord with the nation’s Democratic president.The House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, reached for all the superlatives he could find to describe the tightness of the bond between the Republic of China on Taiwan and America. The occasion was the meeting with Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, in the charming setting of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library outside Los Angeles, the first such session on American soil since President Carter switched diplomatic recognition of China to Beijing from Taiwan in 1978.Mr. McCarthy and Ms. Tsai appeared to be competing for the best words for the love between Taiwan and America while China’s leader, Xi Jinping, menaces the island democracy with rhetoric and displays of military might.Reinforcing President Biden’s oft-stated assurances of America’s “commitment” to Taiwan, Mr. McCarthy, standing beside Ms. Tsai, vowed, “We will honor our obligations and reiterate our commitment to our shared values, behind which all Americans are united.”Indeed, he said, “Our bond is stronger now than at any time or point in my lifetime and of course, President Tsai is a great champion of that bond.”Ms. Tsai, “in transit” at Los Angeles on her way home to Taipei after visits to the Central America nations of Guatemala and Belize, was equally unstinting in her gratitude for the “unwavering support” accorded by Mr. McCarthy, among 18 members of Congress invited to the love-fest. The welcome accorded her in the carefully scripted stopover reassured her, she said, “that we are not isolated and we are not alone” amid “unprecedented challenges” to “the democracy which we have worked hard to build.”In the face of ominous warnings from Beijing for her not to leave the airport while passing through Los Angeles, Ms. Tsai pointed out the legacy of President Reagan hanging over the scene in the library at Simi Valley, 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles. It was Reagan, she noted, who assured Taiwan of America’s support four years after Mr. Carter had replaced the American embassy in Taipei with an “institute.”“Once again,” she said, “we find ourselves in a world where democracy is under threat and the urgency of keeping the beacon of freedom shining cannot be understated.”It was not Ms. Tsai’s first encounter with a speaker of the House. The visit of the long-time Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, to Taipei in August drew a hysterical response from Beijing, which deployed planes and ships around the island for live-fire exercises. Yet another House speaker, Newt Gingrich, a Republican, had visited the island in 1997, meeting with the president, Lee Teng-hui.Bipartisanship was a central theme in the reception for Ms. Tsai. A Democratic congressman, Pete Aguilar, like Mr. McCarthy from California, was struck by “the overwhelming bi-partisan commitment” on display. Ms. Pelosi, another Californian, wasn’t there but commended the meeting “for its leadership, its bipartisan participation and its distinguished and historic venue.” The Chinese response this time was relatively low key. The Global Times, English-language offshoot of the party newspaper People’s Daily, reported the army “vowed to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity with multiple land, naval, air exercises,” but did not say where. Chinese fighter planes crossed into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, as they have done regularly.In remarks early Thursday morning, Beijing vowed to take “resolute and forceful measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” and warned America “not to walk further down a wrong and dangerous road.”Yet by Thursday afternoon, the AP reported, there were no signs of a substantial response by Chinese military forces.The meeting appeared to have come off without disagreement on anything despite concerns about when Taiwan will be getting arms from America as promised. No one was reported to have asked whether American troops should base on the island — a move that might finally provoke Beijing into more than mere shows of force.It was the show of American power that counted in the Reagan Library. Mr. McCarthy tweeted that relations between America and the Republic of China had “never been stronger,” to which Ms. Tsai responded that the meeting would “strengthen the bond.”

Speaker McCarthy Reaches for Superlatives in Coast Meeting With Free Chinese Leader

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