Taiwan president’s meeting with US speaker divides opinion at home

While Tsai Ing-wen was visiting the US, her predecessor was in Beijing on a mission to bolster cross-strait relations

When Tsai Ing-wen’s presidential motorcade drove into the Ronald Reagan library grounds on Wednesday, opposing camps of protesters lined the road. Tsai, leader of the Republic of China – Taiwan’s formal name – was on her way to meet the third highest ranking official in the US, the house speaker, Kevin McCarthy.

On one side was an eclectic mix of Taiwan’s US-based diaspora, Taiwan supporters, professed Chinese supporters of Tsai, and activists from Hong Kong and Tibet. On the other was a group that Christine Lu, a Taiwanese-American, described as “very coordinated”, and who were waving huge Chinese flags, and pro-Chinese Communist party and anti-Tsai placards. The groups soon came to blows and had to be separated by police.