US urges China to choose 'diplomacy' not 'pressure' on Taiwan

The United States called Thursday on China to choose diplomacy rather than military pressure on Taiwan after Beijing deployed warships following a meeting by the island's leader with the US House speaker.

"We continue to urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful diplomacy," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

"We remain committed to maintaining open channels of communication so as to prevent the risk of any kind of miscalculation," Patel said.

Patel acknowledged "differences" between the United States and China over Taiwan but said that the two powers have managed the situation for 40 years.

President Tsai Ing-wen met Wednesday in California with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican who became the highest ranking American to see a Taiwanese president on US soil since Washington switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

China, which had warned against the visit, deployed warships to the Taiwan Strait -- although the initial reaction was less than when McCarthy's predecessor, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, visited Taipei in August.

The United States characterized Tsai's visit as a "transit" on her way to and from Latin America.

"There is no reason to turn this transit, which is consistent with longstanding US policy, into something that it's not or to use it as a pretext to overreact," Patel said.