China has threatened "decisive countermeasures" if the announced meeting between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, takes place in Los Angeles on April 5.

Tsai is scheduled to arrive in New York tomorrow, on his way to Guatemala and Belize, and is expected to arrive in Los Angeles on April 5, on his way back from the tour, when the meeting with McCarthy is scheduled.

Recently, diplomatic pressure on Taiwan has increased, and Beijing sends military fighter jets to the island almost every day.

Earlier this month, Honduras established diplomatic relations with China, so now Taiwan is recognized as a sovereign state by only 13 countries.

At today's press conference, Chinese Ministry of Taiwan Affairs spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian condemned Tsai's stay in the United States, en route to Central America, and asked that "no American official meet with her."

- We firmly oppose and will take decisive countermeasures, Zhu said.

The United States, she added, should "refrain from arranging transit visits or even contact with Tsai Ing-wen, and take concrete actions to fulfill its formal commitment not to support Taiwan independence."

Transit visits to the US by the Taiwanese leader during her broader international travels have been routine in recent years, and in those unofficial visits Tsai has met with members of Congress and the Taiwanese diaspora.

Between 2016 and 2019, Tsai made six visits to the United States before she stopped visiting other countries due to the coronavirus pandemic, and China always responded verbally to the visits.