CHINA KEEPS APPLYING THE HEAT:  They are relentless, and it is folly to think they're going to back down from the brink just because we ask them to.  From Fox: 

China has threatened to retaliate against the United States and Taiwan over a planned meeting between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Beijing has repeatedly alleged the U.S. and Taiwan are acting in secret to push for Taiwan’s independence and threatened "resolute countermeasures" should the two leaders meet.
Tsai is scheduled to meet McCarthy on Wednesday, April 5, when the head of the self-governing island democracy visits Los Angeles, California.

"We firmly oppose this and will take resolute countermeasures," Zhu Fenglian, the spokesperson for the Cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said during a press conference on Wednesday.

The official cautioned the U.S. to "refrain from arranging Tsai Ing-wen’s transit visits and even contact with American officials." It also urged Washington to "take concrete actions to fulfill its solemn commitment not to support Taiwan independence."

Tsai’s itinerary includes a brief stop in New York on Thursday, March 30, before she heads to Guatemala and Belize for several days. She will return to the U.S. in the middle of the week to stay in Los Angeles, where the meeting with McCarthy is scheduled to take place.
She will then head back to Taiwan.

In recent weeks, China has ramped up diplomatic pressure on Taiwan, which governs independently as a democracy, and has mobilized its military forces over the island. The Communist-ruled Chinese mainland has also cautioned regional countries and the West, including the U.S., not to interfere in how it decides to rule over Taiwan.

COMMENT:  What nerve!    A hostile foreign country is telling our speaker of the House who he may meet with.  Once again, we see the cost of weakness.  The Chinese give their bully orders because they know there'll be no cost. From what I read, I get the feeling that most foreign-policy types believe that Taiwan is the hottest flash point in the world right now.  And there can't be a new president elected until November of next year.

March 28,  2023