Taiwan president to visit US, Speaker meet unconfirmed

STORY: Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen will visit the United States on her way to and from Central America later this month.

A move China's foreign ministry strongly condemned on Tuesday (March 21).

But Taipei has not yet confirmed a meeting with Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

A possible meeting would be seen as a less sensitive alternative to the Speaker visiting Taiwan, a trip he has previously said he hopes to make.

Sources tell Reuters that McCarthy intends to meet Tsai during the California leg of her visit.

She plans to leave Taipei on March 29 and return on April 7 - transiting through New York and Los Angeles while en route to Guatemala and Belize.

Taiwanese presidents routinely pass through the U.S. while visiting allies in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

Though not official visits, the trips are often used by both sides for high-level meetings.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China strongly opposed any contact between the U.S. and Taiwanese governments.

"...We again warn the Taiwan authorities that there is no way out for Taiwan independence, and any illusions about attempts to collude with external forces to seek independence and provocation is doomed to fail. China will firmly defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

China staged war games near Taiwan in August after a Taipei visit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

It has also said the U.S. is colluding with Taiwan to challenge Beijing, and is giving support to those who want the island to declare formal independence.

Taiwan is China's most tense territorial issue and a major bone of contention with Washington.

The U.S., like most countries, has no formal diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan.

But is its most important international backer and arms supplier.