TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has reportedly agreed to a suggestion by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) that the two should formally meet in California in order to avoid an aggressive response by China, according to British media.

Days before former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan last year, McCarthy pledged he would visit if he became house speaker and reiterated that vow in February after taking Pelosi's post. 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 Pelosi's visit.

The newspaper 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." Possibly pointing to internal turmoil, the official reportedly described China as "not in a good situation."

The official went on to say that China may be enacting policies that are "even more irrational than in the past." The source stressed the importance of controlling the situation in order to diminish "risks."

Another Taiwanese official said McCarthy agreed that Taiwan's concerns about heightened security risks were "reasonable." Given Tsai's planned trip to California and New York in April, Tsai's representatives reportedly suggested taking her visit to McCarthy's home state as an opportunity to meet.