NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE C hina’s embassy in Washington is issuing new threats in an apparent last-ditch effort to derail a bipartisan congressional delegation’s expected meeting with Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen tomorrow, National Review has learned.
Earlier today, Li Xiang, a diplomat who identified himself as a counselor in the congressional-affairs section of the Chinese embassy, sent congressional offices a threatening note about the expected meeting between Tsai and the lawmakers. The subject line read: “About the possible meeting with Tsai in California,” suggesting that the embassy believes that the meeting, which is slated to take place tomorrow at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, can be prevented.
The emails went out separately this morning to multiple congressional offices, and followed the publication by Punchbowl News of the full list of lawmakers who planned to meet with Tsai. In addition to House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.), the delegation includes Representatives Mike Gallagher (R., Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D., Ill.) — the chair and ranking member, respectively, of the new House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party — Democratic majority leader Pete Aguilar, and other officials.
“I would like to reiterate that the Chinese side strongly opposes any form of official interaction between the US and Taiwan, strongly opposes any visit to the US by the leader of the Taiwan authorities regardless of the rationale or pretext, and strongly opposes all forms of contact of the US officials with the Taiwan authorities, including Speaker McCarthy’s meeting with Tsai Ing-wen no matter where the meeting takes place,” Li wrote in the email, a copy of which National Review obtained this afternoon.
While McCarthy had initially planned to travel to Taiwan for a meeting with Tsai, Taiwanese officials reportedly presented him with intelligence showing that such a trip would undermine the country’s security, and the two sides opted for a meeting on U.S. soil instead. In a press advisory distributed yesterday, McCarthy’s office confirmed that the meeting would take place tomorrow.
The Chinese embassy’s email also said that “lessons should be learned” from then-speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan last August, which Beijing used as a pretext to initiate military drills, including missile launches, in the waters surrounding Taiwan.
In the email, the embassy, which did not respond to a request for comment, additionally seized on the perception in some quarters in the U.S. that Pelosi is responsible for triggering the Chinese saber-rattling, writing, “The strategic community in the U.S. and some members of Congress have reflected on this, believing that the U.S.’s provocation to the Chinese side on the Taiwan question and attempts to ditch the one-China policy are not in the U.S. interests.” Contrary to that assertion, however, visits by U.S. officials do not in fact violate the one-China policy.
The email also pointed out that pro-China demonstrators appeared in front of the hotel where Tsai stayed during her trip to Manhattan last week, even going so far as to say that protesters reflected “the will of the [American] people.” But Taiwanese lawmakers and media reports have indicated that the protests were orchestrated by CCP front groups and paid for by China’s consulate in New York.
Li concluded the message with vague threats about what China will do if the meeting moves forward, referring to well-trodden Chinese talking points about how “the Taiwan question” implicates Chinese sovereignty.
“I have to point out that China will not sit idly by in the face of a blatant provocation and will most likely take necessary and resolute actions in response to the unwanted situation,” Li wrote. “Let’s work together to prevent such a thing from happening.”
Representative Carlos Gimenez (R., Fla.), who intends to be part of the delegation that meets with Tsai and received one of the emails, told National Review that he’s not cowed by the threats.
“Communist China can threaten me all it wants. I proudly wear those attacks as a badge of honor,” he said. “While the brutal communist regime in Beijing actively props up murderous dictators in Cuba and Venezuela, it is an absolute honor to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen, the leader of a free, prosperous, and democratic nation that respects and values human rights.”
This isn’t the first time that the embassy has attempted to bully Congress. Chinese diplomats regularly reach out to congressional offices to complain about legislation regarding Taiwan, as well as bills that target CCP leaders directly. Earlier this week, a Chinese official sent Representative Chris Smith (R., N.J.) a bizarre letter objecting to legislation he’d introduced to protest the practice of forced organ harvesting. And in at least two instances last fall, Chinese embassy employees approached and berated congressional staff during events held at a third country’s embassy.