China is warning House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) against visiting Taiwan after reports that the GOP leader is planning a trip later this year to the island, which is a flashpoint in the rising tensions between Beijing and Washington. “We urge certain individuals in the U.S. to earnestly abide by the one-China principle,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a statement Monday, indirectly referring to McCarthy’s plans, adding China is “opposed to any official interactions with Taiwan.”
The Chinese response follows a Punchbowl News report last week that the Pentagon is in the “early stages” of planning McCarthy’s visit to Taiwan, possibly this spring. McCarthy’s visit would mirror one by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) last year which also drew ire from the Chinese government and further strained tensions with the U.S.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3836 ... it-taiwan/Upon Pelosi’s visit to the Taiwanese capital Taipei last August, which came with broad bipartisan support, China responded with a massive show of force, including air and sea drills and a potential cyberattack on the Taiwanese government. Chinese officials called Pelosi’s visit “like playing with fire,” at the time.
Those drills have only increased in recent months, including a record number of Chinese aircraft drawing near Taiwanese airspace in December. That may have been in response to the Biden administration’s announcement of an additional $425 million in arms for Taiwanese defense, made weeks before. That sale has received bipartisan praise, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pushing the Biden administration for more Taiwan aid.
Supporting Taiwan is one of the few bi-partisan issues. We'll see how many Democratic House members join McCarthy's entourage, Republicans did join Pelosi's. Taiwan also has great economic value to the US as a major chip manufacturer.
https://www.shiphub.co/worlds-top-semic ... producers/Taiwanese companies account for 50% of the semiconductor world market. The biggest Taiwanese semiconductor company is TSMC (foundry). TSMC makes microchips for Intel, Apple, AMD, Nvidia, and Qualcomm.