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Chinese sensibilities collided with Texas-style diplomacy Sunday as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told China to mind its own business after receiving objections to his Houston meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
Tsai, who stopped in Texas to visit with Cruz and Gov. Greg Abbott, was en route to Central America when she met with the two Texas leaders. Prior to the meeting, Cruz said in a statement, China had objected to the visit.
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Under the so-called one China policy, the U. S. maintains diplomatic relations with China but not Taiwan, even though it maintains commercial ties with the island, which China claims is a breakaway province and not a separate nation. Taiwan, off the coast of China, became the refuge for China’s Nationalist government after Mao Zedong took power in 1949.
On Sunday, Cruz said he would meet with whomever he wanted to, no matter what China had to say.
“The People’s Republic of China needs to understand that in America we make decisions about meeting with visitors for ourselves,” Cruz said in a statement.
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“This is about the U. S. relationship with Taiwan, an ally we are legally bound to defend.
