The White House says Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen’s trip across the U.S. is “consistent” with the One China policy and urged Beijing not to overreact to the development Wednesday.
NSC Strategic Communications Director John Kirby made the statement to reporters during a press briefing at the White House on Wednesday. He pointed out that President Tsai has transited the U.S. six times since gaining office in 2016, and each incident came and went without objection from Beijing.
“There’s no reason for them to react harshly,” Kirby told reporters, before urging China not to use the incident as an excuse to escalate tensions.
A reporter pressed Kirby about whether the White House was worried the transit might cause a “Pelosi 2.0 scenario,” referencing former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan last year that China responded to with massive military drills.
“We’ll let Beijing speak for itself, and as I said…there’s no reason for them to react harshly or overreact in any way,” Kirby responded. “This is a common occurrence. President Tsai Ing-wen has done this six times before. Other presidents of Taiwan have transited the United States. There’s nothing unusual about this.”
Beijing has long argued that Taiwan is its sovereign terrority. The island split from the mainland in 1949 after democratic forces lost a civil war to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Fox News’ Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
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