(PartiallyPolitics.com) – Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) praised Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for his meeting with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in California on Wednesday.
It is rare for Pelosi, who is known for the tense relationship she has with McCarthy to offer the current Speaker any praise. Especially during McCarthy’s time as the minority leader, while Pelosi was the Speaker the two had a relatively bitter relationship.
Despite this in her recent statement, Pelosi said that the Speaker needed to be “commended” for his meeting with Tsai especially in regard to “its leadership, its bipartisan participation, and its distinguished and historic venue.”
McCarthy’s meeting with Tsai was hosted at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California on Wednesday, where dozens of lawmakers from both parties were in attendance. Some of those present included Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the chair and ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (Calif.).
McCarthy is currently the most senior elected U.S. official to have met with Tsai while on U.S. soil. Prior to the meeting, Chinese officials had repeatedly warned about the potential consequences that this meeting would have on U.S.- Chinese relations.
On Wednesday, the Chinese Embassy in Washington called the meeting with Tsai “serious political provocations.”
Last August, Pelosi traveled to Taiwan, despite warnings from Beijing. China views Taiwan as a province that should not have its own diplomatic missions or stance.
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