Rival protests in Los Angeles as Taiwan’s president arrives for visit

Pro-Taiwan protesters in front of the Westin Bonaventure hotel in Los Angeles, where Tsai Ing-wen is staying before meeting Kevin McCarthy. Photograph: Frederic Brown/AFP/Getty

Pro- and anti-Taiwan protesters gathered at Los Angeles airport for the arrival of Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, before a meeting scheduled for Wednesday with the US House speaker, Kevin McCarthy.

Protesters also crowded outside Tsai’s LA hotel on Tuesday evening, banging drums, chanting and holding Taiwanese flags and photos of the president, who shook hands with supporters as she entered. A smaller, pro-Beijing group gathered nearby on the pavement, separated by a police line, at times chanting “One China”.