U.S. Speaker meets Taiwan leader and stresses need to speed up arms deliveries

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen and the U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy hold a news conference following a meeting at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, in Simi Valley, California, U.S. April 5, 2023. REUTERS/David Swanson

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California on Wednesday, becoming the most senior U.S. figure to meet a Taiwanese leader on U.S. soil in decades and stressed the need to accelerate arms deliveries to Taiwan in the face of rising threats from China.

McCarthy - the third highest ranking official in the U.S. leadership hierarchy - and other Republican and Democratic lawmakers met Tsai at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California despite threats of retaliation from China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own.