Washington: A senior US official said early on Wednesday that China shouldn't "overreact" and use Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-visit wen's to the US as a "pretext" for aggression against the island's democratically run government.
According to a senior administration official who spoke to reporters under the condition of anonymity, "there is absolutely no reason for China to use that as a pretext to overreact or to engage in further coercion directed at Taiwan."
According to the official, "we're going to execute a transit that is fully consistent with that policy and decades' worth of practise," and Beijing "will not pressure the US government to alter our longstanding practise" on such visits.
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According to Taiwan's foreign ministry, Tsai Ing-wen left Taiwan on Wednesday for the 10-day trip, making stops in New York and Los Angeles en route to and from Guatemala and Belize.
Only 13 states, including two in Central America, formally favour Taiwan over China. Honduras announced earlier this month that it was switching recognition to Beijing, prompting Tsai's trip.
Taiwan is viewed by China as a part of its territory that will one day be retaken, possibly by force. No nation may maintain formal diplomatic ties with both China and Taiwan in accordance with the "One China" principle.
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Stopovers in the US have previously happened without much warning during the lengthy flights, but this year there is more scrutiny due to the rising US-China tensions.
Tsai may meet with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during her visit to Los Angeles. Chinese officials are outraged, but this is a step back from the trip to Taiwan that McCarthy's Democratic predecessor as speaker, Nancy Pelosi, made last year.
Officials assert that the US position, which accepts Taiwan as being under Chinese control, has not changed and that the island has the right to continue to be governed democratically.
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A meeting between McCarthy and Tsai would not indicate any escalation on the part of the US, according to the senior official who was briefing the media. On nearly every visit by Taiwanese leaders in the past, members of Congress have met with the president of Taiwan, the official said.