TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy confirmed that he plans to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) during her trip to the U.S. this year, but he stressed that the meeting does not mean he is ruling out a future trip to Taiwan.

On Tuesday (March 7), the Financial Times cited several sources saying McCarthy agreed with Tsai that it would be better to meet in the U.S. to avoid a repeat of the provocative military maneuvers launched by China after then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit. Bloomberg on Wednesday (March 8) cited McCarthy as confirming he indeed plans to meet with Tsai during her visit to his home state of California.

McCarthy emphasized that his meeting with Tsai, "has nothing to do with my travel, if I would go to Taiwan." He then defiantly added, “China can’t tell me where and when I can go."

Days before former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan last year, McCarthy pledged he would visit if he became house speaker. He then reiterated that vow in February after taking Pelosi's post and had been reportedly preparing to take a bipartisan group of lawmakers with him.

However, the Financial Times on Tuesday cited a Taiwanese official as saying that Tsai had presented McCarthy with, "some intelligence about what the Chinese Communist Party is recently up to and the kinds of threats they pose." The official also referenced China's current domestic turmoil and reportedly described China as "not in a good situation."