TAIPEI, April 5 (Reuters) – Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met with senior security officials on Tuesday to discuss the “regional situation” ahead of her meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California, which China has demanded not take place.
China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has threatened unspecified retaliation if the get-together, scheduled for Wednesday, happens.
After then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August, China staged war games around Taiwan.
Taiwan’s presidential office said that Tsai held the video conference from Belize, her last stop on a Central American trip before going to Los Angeles.
Tsai “listened to a briefing on the overall regional situation”, her office said in a statement.
“The president asked relevant units to continue to grasp the surrounding situation, and to enable the visiting delegation to continue to grasp the situation in real time,” it added, referring to keeping Tsai and her team updated while they are overseas.
Tsai “expressed her gratitude” to colleagues who are sticking to their posts to ensure national security during a long weekend holiday this week, the office said.
Officials on the call included National Security Council secretary-general Wellington Koo and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, who are with the president, as well as National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen, who has remained in Taipei, the statement added.
The president arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening and is due to return to Taipei on Friday.
Taiwan has no far not reported any unusual Chinese military movements ahead of the McCarthy meeting.
Chinese state media on Wednesday said a ship operated by the Maritime Safety Administration of Fujian province, which faces Taiwan, was leading a patrol in the central and northern parts of the Taiwan Strait, though it did not give details.
The Haixun 06 is designed as a maritime administrative law enforcement ship to carry out inspections and help with search and rescue missions, according to previous Chinese state media reports.
Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Ryan Woo in Beijing; Editing by Gerry Doyle
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.