Taiwan's President will go via the US on his way to Central America, but McCarthy has not yet been scheduled for a meeting.

Taiwan confirmed Tuesday that President Tsai Ing-wen will transit the United States en route to Central America at the end of the month, but there was no word on whether a highly anticipated meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will take place. Tsai will head to New York on March 29 before visiting Guatemala and Belize, and then stop in California before returning to Taiwan. The presidential office refused to provide any details of her itinerary in the US, but McCarthy told reporters earlier this month that he'll meet with Tsai when she is in the US. Any face to face meeting between McCarthy and Tsai is likely to infuriate China's ruling Communist Party, which claims democratic Taiwan as its own territory despite never having controlled it. China hit out at initial reports of Tsai's planned US transit emerged earlier this month with its Foreign Ministry declaring it was "seriously concerned" about the prospect of a meeting with McCarthy and repeating its position that Beijing "resolutely opposes all official exchanges between US and Taiwan." Wang Wenbin repeated that criticism, saying Beijing was opposed to the visit "in any name for any reason" and accusing Tsai of "promoting Taiwan independence" with the trip.

Taiwan's refusal to confirm details of a potential McCarthy meeting in advance is not surprising given the geopolitical sensitivities. China launched massive war drills near Taiwan last summer, including firing multiple missiles over the island, when McCarthy's predecessor Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei.