BEIJING TAIPEI -- China threatened to retaliate on Wednesday if U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meets Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen during her planned transit through the United States next month, saying any such move would be a provocation. China, which claims to have ruled Taiwan as its own territory, has warned U.S. officials not to meet Tsai, viewing it as a support for the island's desire to be seen as a separate country.
S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, and Taiwan's armed forces said they are watching for any Chinese moves when Tsai is abroad.
At the end of her trip, she is expected to meet McCarthy in California.
Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the China's Taiwan Affairs Office, told reporters in Beijing that Tsai s transits of the United States were not just for her to meet U.S. officials and lawmakers, but rather were for her to meet the U.S. officials and lawmakers.
She said that if she meets with U.S. House Speaker McCarthy, it will be another provocation that seriously violates the one-China principle, harms China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and destroys peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
"We strongly oppose this and will definitely take measures to fight back," Zhu said, without giving details.
The United States says such transits by Taiwanese presidents are routine and that China should not use Tsai's trip to take any aggressive moves against Taiwan.
Taiwanese presidents routinely pass through the United States while visiting diplomatic allies in the Pacific, the Caribbean and the Pacific, which are often used by both sides for high-level meetings, although they are not official visits.
China says it and Taiwan belong to one China and that as a Chinese province the island has no right to any kind of state-to-state ties.
Taiwan's government strongly rejects China's sovereignty claims, and while Tsai has repeatedly offered talks with Beijing she has also said only Taiwan's people can decide their future.
Tsai is expected to make comments at the airport before her flight leaves New York.