Tensions between the US and China could ratchet up as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy welcomes Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen for a historic meeting on US soil.
Mr McCarthy greeted President Tsai on her arrival at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Southern California.
Wednesday’s session is the first known meeting between a House speaker and a Taiwanese president on American territory since the US broke off formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
President Tsai, making the most sensitive stop on a weeklong journey meant to shore up alliances in the US and Central America, was to meet with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
China views any interaction between U.S. and Taiwanese officials as a challenge to its claim to the island as its territory.
In the past the superpower has reacted with shows of force and by pulling back on dialogue with the United States.
China responded to a visit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan last August with its largest live-fire drills in decades, including firing a missile over the island.
Angry Chinese officials have pledged a quick response to the meeting with McCarthy.
The United States broke off official ties with Taiwan in 1979 while formally establishing diplomatic relations with the Beijing government.
While the U.S. acknowledges the “one-China” policy in which Beijing lays claim to Taiwan, it does not endorse China’s claim to the island and remains Taiwan’s key provider of military and defence assistance.
In October last year President Xi Jinping blasted "external forces" including the US for rising tensions in Taiwan and warned he may take the independent island by force.
The Chinese leader, 69, made the comments during his opening of the 20th congress of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing.
His speech was met with applause as he stated that China (PRC) would "never commit to abandoning the use of force" when attempting to place the island around 100 miles from its shore under its control
Addressing around 2,300 delegates, the president said: "Facing severe provocations from the Taiwan independence forces and from interference by external forces, we resolutely carried out a major struggle against separatism and interference."
It came after tensions reached boiling point when Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August, which China claims as its own territory.
China sent military personnel and equipment, fired warning shots over the island and launched cyber attacks in response to Pelosi's visit.
As Chinese warplanes flew close to Taiwan's maritime border, the US deployed four US Navy ships to the Taiwan Strait.
To the congress, Xi added: "We have resolutely waged a major struggle against separatism and interference, demonstrating our strong determination and ability to safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity and oppose Taiwan independence."
