The United States sees no reason for China to overreact to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s transits of the US, US Department of State Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Wednesday (local time), adding that the transits are consistent with the longstanding policy of Washington.
The statement of Vedant Patel comes after the Chinese spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said that China firmly opposes Tsai Ing-wen’s planned “transit” visit to the US to meet US officials and will take resolute countermeasures in such an event, CGTN reported. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday embarked on a 10-day visit to Central America, which will include transit in the US, CNN reported. Responding to a question regarding China announcing that there would be countermeasures if Taiwan President meets US House Speaker, Vedant Patel said, “I would reiterate what I said at the top, that transits of the United States are based on longstanding US practice consistent with our unofficial nature of relations with Taiwan.