US House Speaker McCarthy to meet Taiwan's leader despite China warnings

Republican US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Monday he would meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California on Wednesday, a move China said would be a provocation.

"On Wednesday, April 5, Speaker Kevin McCarthy will be hosting a bipartisan meeting with the President of Taiwan at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library," his office announced in a statement.

China has warned the United States that it is "playing with fire" over the trip by Tsai, who is in New York on what is officially a transit stopover on her way to Latin America.

She will stop in California on her way back and meet McCarthy, his statement said, while US media reported that around 20 US lawmakers planned to accompany the speaker.

China in August carried out major military exercises around Taiwan, a self-governing democracy it claims as part of its territory awaiting reunification.

McCarthy, the top Republican in Congress, had earlier vowed to follow Democrat Nancy Pelosi, whom he succeeded as speaker, by traveling to Taiwan. The meeting in his home state of California had been viewed as a middle ground that would avoid inflaming tensions with China.