‘I Don’t Think China Can Tell Me Where to Go’: McCarthy Responds to CCP Warning About Potential Taiwan Visit

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks at a news conference in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, DC, on Jan. 12, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has fired back after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) warned him not to visit Taiwan amid reports of a potential trip to the democratic island.

When asked about the communist regime’s warnings that he should not visit Taiwan the way that former speaker Nancy Pelosi did, McCarthy gave a resolute reply.

“I don’t think China can tell me where to go at any time, at any place,” McCarthy said during a press briefing outside of the White House after meeting with President Joe Biden on the debt ceiling on Feb. 1, in response to a question from NTD, a sister media outlet of The Epoch Times.

The CCP claims that Taiwan is part of its territory that must be united with the mainland. Taiwan, however, has never been controlled by the CCP and boasts a thriving democracy and market economy. The communist regime has never renounced the use of force in seizing the island.

Republicans have voiced their support for a potential visit to Taiwan by McCarthy, which is rumored to be in the works.

“The United States will not take orders from the Chinese Communist Party nor should the CCP dictate the actions of any free and sovereign nation,” said Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) in an email to The Epoch Times.

“American lawmakers and officials don’t need a permission slip from Communist China to talk to our friends and allies,” Rep. Tom Tiffany (Wisc.) said in another email.

“I am glad Speaker McCarthy is standing his ground and hope he has a productive visit.”

Improving U.S.-Taiwan relations has become a bipartisan rallying point in recent months, following a 2022 visit to Taiwan by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In response to that visit, the CCP engaged in a series of provocative military actions aimed at intimidating both Taiwan and the United States, including firing several missiles directly over Taiwan which subsequently landed in the waters of Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

CCP-U.S. relations have not improved since then and many in Congress have sought to reinforce Washington’s trade and defense ties with Taiwan accordingly.