Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met with Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy April 5.
The meeting, before a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, was cautioned against by Chinese officials, according to an April 5 NPR report. The newly established House select committee that focuses on China was co-chaired by Wisconsin Republican Mike Gallagher and Illinois Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, both of whom were in attendance alongside other Democratic and Republican officials.
"My office received an email from the Chinese embassy usging my colleagues and me not to meet with President Tsai today," U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, said in an April 5 post on Twitter. "We will relentlessly stand for freedom and with Taiwan, and we are never going to cower."
During the meeting, Tsai reaffirmed her commitment to preserving the peaceful status quo and the people of Taiwan's freedom and open society, according to NPR. She also took time to thank the U.S. for it's support which "reassures the people of Taiwan that we are not isolated, we are not alone."
"The Chinese Communist Party can't dictate the actions of any American citizen. We have to support a free, sovereign democracy and stand with Taiwan," U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Calif., said in an April 11 post on Twitter.
According to the Taipei's Liberty Times newspaper, a senior diplomat at China's consulate in Los Angeles was coordinating demonstrations to disrupt the private engagement between Tsai and McCarthy, Newsweek reported. The deputy consul general, Li Chunlin, reportedly oversaw the work, hoping to mobilize more than 1,000 people with individual payments averaging $400.
NPR reported a propeller plane was flying circles above the area, bearing a banner that read "One China; Taiwan is part of China." Demonstrations were held both against Tsai's visit as well as in support of her.
