Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning deplored the arrangement to hold the meeting tomorrow, demanding Washington to respect the fundamentals of bilateral ties and not to allow official contacts with Tsai.

Mao Ning called on the White House to deny transit through China´s territory to the Taiwanese leader, after warning her that Beijing will closely monitor every moment of the situation and will proceed with a decisive response in defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

China last week protested and anticipated ‘firm countermeasures’ if Tsai Ing-wen meets with U.S. politicians when she returns from her trip to Central America.

China´s armed forces have been deployed for days with aircraft, warships, equipment and state-of-the-art weaponry, near Taiwan, engaged in massive, live-fire, high-intensity exercises.

Experts quoted by the local press assured that the troops are preparing an operation similar to the one carried out last August, when Nancy Pelosi, McCarthy’s predecessor, was in Taipei.

They even have contingency plans ready to react according to what the Taiwanese leader says and does during her U.S. stop.

Tsai plans to make two stops on U.S. soil, one on March 30 in Belize and Guatemala and another on April 5, as she travels to and from Belize and Guatemala.

That trip comes after Honduras cut off more than 80 years of ties with Taipei on March 26 and established them with China.

Since 2017, El Salvador, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and five other nations of the world took that step, leaving Taiwan only recognized by 11 nations.

jav/mem/ymr.