China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province, has threatened a strong response if Tsai meets with Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy in the US. Beijing sees the stopover as a provocation and says a meeting between McCarthy and Tsai would “destroy peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait”.
Before her departure, Tsai said that she would not care about this “outside pressure”. “We are calm and confident, we will not budge nor provoke. Taiwan takes steps on the path to freedom and democracy and goes out into the world. That path is difficult, but Taiwan is not alone,” said the president.
Tsai will stay in New York for a few days and will make a stopover in Los Angeles on the way back. It is expected that she will meet McCarthy in California, but both countries have not confirmed anything about this.