China incensed as Taiwan president meets US House speaker McCarthy

Tsai Ing-wen praises ‘strong and unique’ US-Taiwan partnership during meeting Beijing condemns as ‘provocation’

Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen has praised the “strong and unique partnership” between the island and the United States, as she met the US House speaker Kevin McCarthy for a meeting that prompted an angry reaction from the Chinese government.

The comments came after a meeting on Wednesday between the two at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. It is the second time Tsai has met the holder of the high-ranking office in less than a year, having welcomed McCarthy’s predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan in August.