Tsai to Meet With McCarthy and Deliver Public Speech 蔡出訪將過境美國 北京批推動台獨藉口

President Tsai Ing-wen will transit through the United States in the coming weeks during a trip to visit Taiwan's Central American allies Guatemala and Belize. It is speculated that she might meet with US SPeaker of the House Kevin McCarthy in Califormia. China has condemned Tsai's planned US stop over, while the white house said this is an unofficial personal trip and it's nothing new. Tsai Ing-wen will depart Taiwan on March 29 for the 10-day trip.

President Tsai Ing-wen is set to visit Central American allies Guatemala and Belize on March 29 for 10 days, during which she will stop over in New York and Los Angeles in the United States, expecting to meet with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy and deliver a public speech. With respect to this, China is strongly opposed to any form of official exchange between the United States and Taiwan and further demanded that the U.S. complies with the one-China policy and fulfills its promise to not support Taiwan independence.

Wang Wenbin, Spokesperson, Chinese Foreign Ministry: “We strongly oppose the current Taiwan leader to sneak into the U.S. in any name or under any reason. China has already made solemn representations to the U.S. with respect to this; a stopover in the U.S. by a Taiwanese leader is merely a façade breakthrough for promoting Taiwan independence.”

John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications: “There is no reason for China to overreact. Heck, there's no reason for them to react. This is something that is commonplace and it has happened before, likely happen again.”

The White House responded that China has no reason to overreact nor does the U.S. have any intention to downplay President Tsai's stopover. This is an unofficial and personal trip, which is ''nothing new'' and is consistent with longstanding U.S. policy. As for President Tsai's security protocols, the NSA noted that it will discuss with countries to be visited to ensure travel safety.

Tsai Ming-yen, Director-General, National Security Agency: “For the security configurations in places to be visited, we will communicate and discuss with the chiefs of police and chiefs of information security of countries to be visited to ensure the President's safety.”

As to whether China may seize this opportunity while President Tsai is away to engage in the military exercise, the Ministry of Defense responded that based on China's past measures, everything is under control by the Ministry. It is not at liberty to explain response measures. However, freedom of navigation has been thoroughly practiced internationally, and China ought to obey relevant practices. 

總統蔡英文29日即將出訪中美洲友邦瓜地馬拉及貝里斯，10天行程更會過境美國紐約及洛杉磯，預計與眾議院議長麥卡錫見面並發表公開演說，中國對此表示堅決反對美台任何形式官方往來，要求美國恪守一個中國原則，履行不支持台獨的承諾。

中國外交部發言人汪文斌說：「堅決反對台灣當局領導人以任何名義、任何理由竄美，中方已就此向美方提出嚴正交涉，台灣當局領導人過境是假，謀求突破宣揚台獨是真。」

美國國安會發言人柯比（John Kirby）則表示：「中國沒有理由反應過度，見鬼，他們沒有理由做出反應，正如我所說這是很平常的事，以前就有過，很可能還會再發生。」

美國白宮回應表示中國沒理由反應過度，也沒有想要淡化蔡總統的過境，近年來每一位台灣總統都曾過境美國，這是非官方而且個人的旅行，並不罕見。而蔡總統的出訪維安，國安局表示都會跟受訪國進行討論，確保安全。

國安局長蔡明彥說明：「出訪的一些地點，相關維安配置我們都會跟受訪國警政首長還有資安的首長來進行溝通跟討論，確保總統出訪的安全。」

至於中共是否可能趁總統出訪期間軍演，國防部回應表示，以中共過去手法，國防部都可以掌握，相關應對方案不便說明，自由航行是國際慣例，中共應該要遵守相關慣例。