Tsai Ing-wen will meet with Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy at the Reagan (Reagan) Presidential Library in California on April 5 local time.
This is the first time a Taiwan president has met with the Speaker of the US House of Representatives in the US, and it is also the highest-level meeting between Taiwan leaders in the US since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US in 1979.
McCarthy is regarded as a pragmatic faction within the Republican Party, with excellent interpersonal skills. At the beginning of the year, he defeated the extreme right-wing forces in the party in the longest election for the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the United States in 164 years.
first republican in the family
As Speaker of the House of Representatives, McCarthy (second from right) is the third person in American politics today.
McCarthy was born in Bakersfield, south central California, in 1965. His mother was a housewife and his father was an assistant fire chief. His parents were both Democratic supporters. He was the first Republican in his family.
He majored in marketing at California State University, Bakersfield. At the age of 19, he won $5,000 in the lottery while in school. He started investing in stocks and operating a sandwich shop, but soon found that profits were thin and taxes were excessive. High, thus turning to support rightist ideas.
McCarthy sold the small shop, and in 1987 served as an assistant and apprentice to local Republican Congressman Bill Thomas (Bill Thomas), formally entered politics, and was elected to the California State Representative in 2002. His fellow Republican Tom McClintock said he was impressed by McCarthy’s performance that year, pointing out that he adhered to Republican principles in the California Congress dominated by Democrats.
McCarthy served two terms in the California Congress. In 2006, when his master Thomas retired, he took over the election and successfully entered Congress. The Republican Party was a minority at the time, but McCarthy quickly carved out a place for himself in the party, known for his fundraising and recruiting skills.
He was quickly promoted to chief deputy whip and later majority whip. In 2014, McCarthy was elected as the leader of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives. In 2015, he failed to challenge the speaker’s throne for the first time, and Paul Ryan of the same party was elected speaker. After 2019, McCarthy began to serve as the minority leader of the House of Representatives.
Take a tough stance on China
McCarthy is considered to have a tough stance on China, and he led the establishment of the House of Representatives “Special Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Communist Party of China.”
On diplomatic issues, he advocates being tough on China. In May 2020, he established the Republican “China Task Force” in the House of Representatives to deal with China’s threats.
After the Republican Party regained control of the House of Representatives in the mid-term elections at the end of 2022, he announced that if elected speaker, he would establish a “Select Committee on China” in the House of Representatives. In January 2023, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the establishment of the “Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party” with 365 votes in favor and 65 votes against.
McCarthy pointed out that the United States has spent decades adopting policies that welcome China into the global system, but China has responded with aggression and anti-American sentiment. He emphasized that defending the United States from Chinese Communist Party aggression is a bipartisan matter. He also said that the Republican-led House of Representatives will investigate the origin of the new crown epidemic and hold China accountable.
Regarding Taiwan, he supported the then Speaker of the House of Representatives Pelosi to visit Taiwan in the summer of 2022, and promised that if the Republicans took over the House of Representatives, he hoped to lead a delegation to visit Taiwan again as speaker, becoming the third Speaker of the House of Representatives to visit Taiwan.
In January this year, the US online media Punchbowl News reported that McCarthy planned to visit Taiwan in the spring. The news caused a strong reaction from Beijing. The “Financial Times” quoted Taiwanese officials in early March as saying that Tsai Ing-wen persuaded McCarthy to meet in California instead, so as not to overly stimulate Beijing and threaten Taiwan’s security.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will stop by the United States on her return trip to Central America to meet with House Speaker McCarthy
