Taiwan Will Continue to Vex U.S.-China Ties, Despite Low-Key Tsai-McCarthy Visit

While China's response to a meeting between high-ranking U.S. and Taiwanese officials was relatively modest, the trajectory of China-U.S. and China-Taiwan relations remains escalatory. This will perpetuate the risk of cross-strait incidents, pose a pervasive threat of Chinese military coercion against Taiwan, and increase constraints on U.S.-China trade ties. On April 5, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the Ronald Reagan Library in the Californian city of Simi Valley, marking the first time a sitting Taiwanese president has met with the leader of the U.S. House of Representatives on U.S. soil since 1979. Tsai and McCarthy were joined by 17 other U.S. lawmakers, including 10 members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. In a joint statement released after the meeting, McCarthy reiterated the need for the United States to deliver arms sold to Taiwan on a ''very timely basis'' and...