A trip taken by U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (TX-R) to Taiwan got the congressman sanctioned by the Chinese government, a retaliatory action for affronting its claim over the island nation.
McCaul, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, visited for three days earlier in April. The trip was part of an effort to discuss the United States possibly selling more weapons to Taiwan.
However, the Chinese government has historically viewed any attempt by foreign actors to conduct diplomatic relations with the Taiwanese government as a violation of its sovereignty, AP News reported.
The congressman is not the first U.S. official to stir the ire of Beijing. As previously reported in The Dallas Express, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Los Angeles just a few days before McCaul arrived on the island.
The Hudson Institute and Ronald Reagan Presidential Library were both sanctioned in retaliation for the meeting, as they both hosted the talks, the South China Morning Post reported.
“Being sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party is a badge of honor. Nothing will deter the United States from supporting free, democratic nations — including Taiwan. Ironically, this baseless action serves U.S. interests by bringing more attention to our international partners and revealing the CCP’s blatant aggression,” said McCaul in a press release on Thursday.
McCaul is now banned from China, and any assets he had in the country are now frozen.
A statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry to Reuters said that McCaul’s actions were “seriously harming China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and sending a serious wrong signal to Taiwan independence separatist forces.”
The Chinese government has maintained for decades that Taiwan is a renegade province and still a part of the People’s Republic of China, threatening to use force if necessary to assert political control over the island nation.
For its part, Taiwan has rejected Beijing’s claims and asserts that it is an independent democratic country.
