China sends warships near Taiwan ahead of Tsai-McCarthy meeting

China has sent warships through waters around Chinese Taipei in a "firm response" to the meeting of the self-governing island's President and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.Taipei President Tsai Ing-wen met with McCarthy in Los Angeles on Wednesday, despite China's stern warnings to both sides that the meeting should not take place.

China has sovereignty over Taipei. The US recognizes this sovereignty, but regularly violates its own stated policy. The island has become a major bone of contention between Beijing and Washington.Hours before the Tsai-McCarthy meeting, China deployed an aircraft carrier through waters near the self-governing island.

Taipei's Defense Ministry said Thursday morning the military had spotted three more warships in waters separating the island from mainland China. An anti-submarine helicopter also crossed the island's "air defense identification zone," the ministry said.A visit by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei last year also sparked a similar reaction from China, as Beijing conducted the largest-ever air and sea drills around the island.

China's defense ministry issued a warning ahead of the latest meeting, saying Beijing "maintains high vigilance at all times and resolutely defends national sovereignty and territorial integrity." The ministry said it opposes "the leader of the Taiwan region sneaking into the United States under any name or under any pretext."

In California, Tsai expressed her gratitude for the meeting, which she says showed her island is not isolated on the international stage.According to MP Seth Moulton, she placed even more emphasis on trade and economic partnerships than military aid. For his part, McCarthy said Taipei-Washington relations are "a matter of fundamental importance to the free world."

He also pledged that US arms sales to Taipei would continue amid an ongoing debate in Washington over how to step up aid for arms sales to the island and whether the United States should commit to helping the island in the event of a Chinese attack help.

The meeting with McCarthy, who is second only to the presidency and provided the top-level government reception for a Taiwanese president on US soil, still falls short of an audience with the President of the United States. McCarthy originally planned to travel to Taipei, but instead chose to meet Tsai in California.