The State Department signaled Wednesday that it would not object to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen traveling to California to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican.

Mr McCarthy confirmed yesterday that he would see President Tsai in his home state, avoiding a visit to Taipei for now, which would risk escalating already high tensions with China.

He has expressed an intention to go to Taiwan, as his predecessor in office, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, did in August 2022 — pushing Beijing to proceed with unprecedented military gymnasiums around the island.

“The US transits of senior Taiwanese officials are consistent with our long-standing policy and our informal but strong relationship with Taiwan,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.

He made sure, according to standard practice, to speak of a “transit” rather than a “visit” to the US by the Taiwanese president.

“There is nothing new in this. She is completely compliant with the status quo,” Mr. Price insisted, noting that Taiwan’s president has made “transitions” from the US six times since taking office in 2016.

The last time Ms Tsai visited the US was in 2019; then there was talk of a “stopover” on her official visit to Caribbean states.

China opposes any formal political or military contact between foreign governments and the island’s authorities, which it considers a breakaway province.

Washington is Taiwan’s main protectorate even though it officially recognizes the government in Beijing as China’s sole legal representative under the “one China” policy.

The Republican speaker of the House of Representatives has not ruled out visiting Taiwan in the future.