According to AOL.com,Independent, SRAVASTI DASGUPTA

Updated April 5, 2023, 11:55 PM,  China has sent warships in waters around Taiwan and warned of “resolute” action after the island’s leader Tsai Ing-wen met US House of Representatives speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Taiwan’s ministry of defence said on Thursday morning that three warships were detected in waters separating the island from mainland China.

The ministry also said that an anti-submarine helicopter had crossed the island air defense identification zone.

Earlier on Wednesday, Taiwan said it was keeping a close watch after a Chinese aircraft carrier was spotted off the Taiwan coast.

Taiwan’s defence minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told reporters at parliament in Taipei that the carrier was spotted on Wednesday, 200 nautical miles (370km) off Taiwan’s east coast.

The developments come as Ms Tsai stopped at Los Angeles as part of her weeklong journey meant to shore up alliances in the US and Central America.

She is due to return to Taipei on Friday.

China views any interaction between the US and Taiwan as a challenge to its territorial claim on the island nation.

It also staged war games around Taiwan last August after then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei.

In a statement on Thursday, the Chinese foreign ministry promised to take “resolute and effective measures” after the meeting between Ms Tsai and Mr McCarthy.

“In response to the seriously erroneous acts of collusion between the US and Taiwan, China will take resolute and effective measures to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Chinese foreign ministry was quoted as saying by Global Times.

Wednesday’s meeting was the first reported interaction between a House speaker and a Taiwanese president on US soil since the US broke off formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979.

While the US does not have any diplomatic relations with Taiwan, it provides arms under the Taiwan Relations Act.

Washington’s “One China policy” says it takes no position on the status of the two sides but wants their dispute resolved peacefully.

Beijing on the other hand promotes an alternative “One China policy” that says Taiwan is a part of China and the Communist Party is its leader.

After their meeting on Wednesday, Mr McCarthy said at a news conference: “America’s support for the people of Taiwan will remain resolute, unwavering and bipartisan.”

Ms Tsai also said stressed on Taiwan’s commitment “to defending the peaceful status quo where the people in Taiwan may continue to thrive in a free and open society”.

“We once again find ourselves in a world where democracy is under threat and the urgency of keeping the beacon of freedom shining cannot be understated.”

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On April 5, 2023, Taiwan President Tsai met with Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California and a bipartisan delegation of House members. The meeting between Tsai and McCarthy marked the first time a Taiwanese President had met with a US House Speaker on American soil and the second time in less a year that a Taiwanese President had met with a US House Speaker (having met Pelosi in August 2022 in Taiwan).

In March and April 2023, Tsai Ing-wen, President of Taiwan, traveled to the United States. In March, she met in New York City with Hakeem Jeffries, the U.S. House Minority Leader, and a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators: Joni Ernst of Iowa, Mark Kelly of Arizona, and Dan Sullivan of Alaska.

In February 2023, Representatives Ro Khanna, Jake Auchincloss, Jonathan Jackson and Tony Gonzales visited Taiwan.

On August 2, 2022, Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives led a congressional delegation to Taiwan, leading to a military and economic response from China. Later in August a congressional delegation led by Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey also visited Taiwan and Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb (who became the first Indiana Governor to visit Taiwan since 2005).  At the end of August Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn visited Taiwan. At the end of August and beginning of September Arizona Governor Doug Ducey visited Taiwan.

In July 2022 Senator Rick Scott led a congressional delegation to Taiwan.

In late May 2022, the State Department restored a line on its fact sheet on US-Taiwan relations which it removed earlier in the month and stated it did not support Taiwanese independence. However,[58] another line which was also removed in the earlier fact sheet that acknowledged China’s sovereignty claims over Taiwan was not restored while a line that stated the U.S would maintain its capacity to resist any efforts by China to undermine the security, sovereignty and prosperity of Taiwan in a manner that was consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act was added to the updated fact sheet.

On May 23, 2022, President Biden, during his trip to Asia, vowed to defend Taiwan with US military in the case of an invasion by China.[56] At the end of May Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth led a congressional delegation to Taiwan.

On March 3, 2021, the Biden Administration reasserted the strength of the relationship between the U.S. and Taiwan in the administration's Interim National Security Strategic Guidance.

On March 8, 2021, the Biden Administration made the following statement during a press briefing: "We will stand with friends and allies to advance our shared prosperity, security, and values in the Indo-Pacific region.  We maintain our longstanding commitments, as outlined in the Three Communiqués, the Taiwan Relations Act, and the Six Assurances.  And we will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability."

In June 2021 a congressional delegation made up of Tammy Duckworth, Dan Sullivan (U.S. senator) and Christopher Coons briefly visited Taiwan and met with President Tsai Ing-wen. Their use of a C-17 military cargo aircraft drew strong protest from China.

In January 2021, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met with United States Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft by video link.  Craft said: "We discussed the many ways Taiwan is a model for the world, as demonstrated by its success in fighting COVID-19 and all that Taiwan has to offer in the fields of health, technology and cutting-edge science.... the U.S. stands with Taiwan and always will." Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian said: "Certain U.S. politicians will pay a heavy price for their wrong words and deeds." On her last day in office later that month, Craft called Taiwan "a force for good on the global stage -- a vibrant democracy, a generous humanitarian actor, a responsible actor in the global health community, and a vigorous promoter and defender of human rights."

In an October 2020 deal of $2.37 billion between the U.S and Taiwan, the U.S. State Department approved the potential sale to Taiwan of 400 Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles including associated radars, road-mobile launchers, and technical support.

In September 2020, the US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft met with James K.J. Lee, director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, who was secretary-general in Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs until July, for lunch in New York City in what was the first meeting between a top Taiwan official and a United States ambassador to the United Nations.  Craft said she and Lee discussed ways the US can help Taiwan become more engaged within the U.N., and she pointed to a December 2019 email alert from Taiwan that WHO had ignored, recognizing and warning about the danger of the person-to-person transmission of the new highly contagious Covid-19 virus in China.

On 9 August 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar visited Taiwan to meet President Tsai Ing-wen, the first visit by an American official since the break in diplomatic relations between Washington and Taipei in 1979.  In September 2020, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith J. Krach attended the memorial service for former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui.

In May 2020, the US State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale of 18 MK-48 Mod 6 Advanced Technology Heavy Weight Torpedoes for Taiwan in a deal estimated to cost $180 million.

In July 2019, the US State Department approved the sale of M1A2T Abrams tanks, Stinger missiles and related equipment at an approximate value of $2.2 billion to Taiwan

In September 2018, the United States approved the sale of $330 million worth of spare parts and other equipment to sustain the Republic of China Air Force.

A new $250 million compound for the American Institute in Taiwan was unveiled in June 2018, accompanied by a "low-key" American delegation.  The Chinese authorities estimated this action as violation of "one China" policy statement and claimed the US to stop any relations with Taiwan.

On December 16, 2015, the Obama administration announced a deal to sell $1.83 billion worth of arms to the Armed Forces of Taiwan, a year and eight months after U.S. House passed the Taiwan Relations Act Affirmation and Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2014 to allow the sale of Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates to Taiwan. The deal would include the sale of two decommissioned U.S. Navy frigates, anti-tank missiles, Assault Amphibious Vehicles, and FIM-92 Stinger surface-to-air missiles, amid the territorial disputes in the South China Sea.   China's foreign ministry had expressed its disapproval for the sales and issued the U.S. a "stern warning", saying it would hurt China–U.S. relations

U.S. commercial ties with Taiwan have been maintained and have expanded since 1979. Taiwan continues to enjoy Export-Import Bank financing, Overseas Private Investment Corporation guarantees, normal trade relations (NTR) status, and ready access to U.S. markets.  In recent years, AIT commercial dealings with Taiwan have focused on expanding market access for American goods and services. AIT has been engaged in a series of trade discussions, which have focused on copyright concerns and market access for U.S. goods and services.

The Taiwan Policy Act of 2013 was raised and passed in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs by the US Congress to update the conditions of US-Taiwan relations. In 2015 Kin Moy was appointed to the Director of the AIT.

In July 2002, Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan  became the first Taiwanese government official to be invited into the White House since 1979.

In 1999 former President Jimmy Carter visited Taiwan.

Post-democratization

In 1997 the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, traveled to Taiwan and met with President Lee Teng-hui.

Taiwan's secret nuclear weapons program was revealed after the 1987 Lieyu massacre,  when Colonel Chang Hsien-yi Deputy Director of Nuclear Research at INER,  who was secretly working for the CIA, defected to the U.S. in December 1987 and produced a cache of incriminating documents.  The CIA oversaw negotiations with the Taiwanese which led them to abandon their nuclear ambitions in return for security guarantees.  Since the end of the nuclear weapons program the “Nuclear Card” has played an important part in Taiwan's relationship with the United States.

Reagan pressured Taiwan into giving up its Sky Horse ballistic missile program

Taiwan helped Ronald Reagan circumvent the Boland Amendment by providing covert support to the Contras in Nicaragua.

After de-recognition, the U.S. still maintains unofficial diplomatic relations with Taiwan through Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office; the current head of TECRO in Washington, D.C. is Stanley Kao. The American Institute in Taiwan, a non-profit institute headquarters in the US soil under the laws of the District of Columbia in Arlington County, Virginia and serves as the semi-official, working-level US representation and AIT has branch offices in Taipei and Kaohsiung. The Chairman of AIT is Raymond Burghardt. Christopher J. Marut was appointed to be the new AIT Taipei Office Director in August 2012. With the absence of diplomatic recognition, in the present state, Taiwan-US relations are formally guided by the service of enactment of Taiwan Relations Act by US Congress for the continuation of Taiwan-US relations after 1979.

On April 10, 1979, U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which created domestic legal authority for the conduct of unofficial relations with Taiwan. U.S. commercial, cultural, and other interaction with the people on Taiwan is facilitated through the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a private nonprofit corporation. The institute has its headquarters in the Washington, DC area and has offices in Taipei and Kaohsiung. It is authorized to issue visas, accept passport applications, and provide assistance to U.S. citizens in Taiwan. A counterpart organization, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), has been established by Taiwan. It has its headquarters in Taipei, the representative branch office in Washington, DC, and 11 other Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices (TECO) in the continental U.S. and Guam. The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) continues to provide the legal basis for the unofficial relationship between the U.S. and Taiwan, and enshrines the U.S. commitment to assisting Taiwan maintain its defensive capability.

Sources:Youtube, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy Global News, CBS, ABC, Fox, Arirang News, AFP,  Google, ST,MB CCTV. CNN, Manila Bulletin online, Yahoo, and wikipedia,

April 6th, 2023, Rev. April 7, , 2023

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