Protesters gather at LA airport as Taiwan's President set to meet US House Speaker

Pro- and anti-Taiwan demonstrators gathered at the Los Angeles airport ahead of Wednesday's meeting between Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan, and Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the US House. 

On Tuesday night, demonstrators gathered in front of Tsai's hotel in LA, banging drums, chanting, and waving Taiwanese flags and holding pictures of the president, who shook hands with fans as she arrived. Separated by a police cordon, a smaller pro-Beijing gathering gathered close on the street and occasionally chanted "One China," The Guardian reported. 

Tsai is passing through the US on her way home from a state visit to Guatemala and Honduras, two countries that are officially recognised as friends of Taiwan. Before making any public pronouncements, she will speak with McCarthy behind closed doors at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, just outside of Los Angeles. According to journalists accompanying Tsai, the venue has been making security measures for days. 

China has termed the visit as a "provocation"

Beijing has reacted angrily to the meeting, branding it a "provocation." China's objections, according to Taiwan's foreign ministry this week, are "increasingly absurd and unreasonable," and the US has urged Beijing not to use the "normal" visit as a cover for aggressive action.

Karine Jean-Pierre, a White House spokesperson, told reporters on Tuesday that Tsai's transit was "private" and "unofficial." She said, “President Tsai herself has made this transit about six times before, and again there should be no reason to for China to overreact.”

Beijing claims Taiwan is a Chinese province and accused Tsai and her government of separatist activities. Taiwan, Tsai claims, has become a sovereign nation with an independently functional democracy, and its future is up to its citizens to decide. Last year, during a visit to Taiwan by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Beijing surrounded the island with days of live-fire military exercises. McCarthy has also expressed his desire to visit Taiwan as well.