US House Speaker McCarthy praises Taiwan talks, China Foreign Ministry alleges break of commitment

Anil Panchal FXStreet

US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy crossed wires, via Reuters, late Wednesday while praising talks with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen. The Diplomat, however, ruled out chatters of his visit to the Asian nation by saying, “I don't have any current plans to visit Taiwan but that doesn't mean I will not go.”

Additional comments

We must continue arms sales to Taiwan.

We must strengthen our economic cooperation, particularly with trade and technology.

Congressional meeting shows we take our support for the people of Taiwan seriously.

America's support for the people of Taiwan will remain resolute, unwavering and bipartisan.

US arms sales to Taiwan must be delivered on timely basis.

We look forward to more meetings like this in the future.

We support Taiwan and we're going to turn those words into action in this congress.

It is not our intention to escalate tensions with China.

There might be further ramifications for Chinese balloon flight over US.

There is no need for retaliation from China for meeting with Taiwan president.

China cannot tell me where I can go or who I can meet.

China should engage with US.

We talked about how We can speed up Weapons going to Taiwan.

Believes there is a bipartisan position on need to speed up arms deliveries to Taiwan.

Soon after the comments from US House Speaker McCarthy, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson crossed wires and alleged the US of breaking its commitment on the Taiwan issue. The following are additional statements from Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson:

China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the acts.

US colluded with Taiwan authorities, connived at attempts by separatists seeking "Taiwan independence" to carry out political activities on US soil.

Action of McCarthy has seriously broken the commitment made by the United States to China on the Taiwan question.

In response to 'seriously erroneous acts of collusion', China will take resolute and effective measures to safeguard national sovereignty, territorial integrity.

Market reaction

The news could weigh on the AUD/USD price which is picking up bids to pare recent losses around 0.6720 by the press time.

Also read: AUD/USD regains 0.6700 in a corrective bounce ahead of Australia trade numbers, China PMI

Author

Anil Panchal

FXStreet

Anil Panchal has nearly 15 years of experience in tracking financial markets. With a keen interest in macroeconomics, Anil aptly tracks global news/updates and stays well-informed about the global financial moves and their implications.

EUR/USD looks weak below 1.1800

EUR/USD has slipped back under pressure, breaking through the 1.1800 support and drifting towards the weekly lows near 1.1770 ahead of the opening bell in Asia. The move reflects renewed strength in the US Dollar, with steady geopolitical tensions keeping its demand firm. Moving forward, the release of the German labour market report and flash inflation figures should keep European investors entertained on Friday.

GBP/USD threatens the 200-day SMA near 1.3440

GBP/USD rapidly leaves behind Wednesday’s strong advance, coming under heavy pressure and retesting the 1.3440 zone, where the critical 200-day SMA is located. Cable’s deep pullback follows the strong gains in the Greenback, while investors continue to pencil in a potential BoE rate cut in March.

Gold trims gains, slips back to around $5,170

Gold is now facing some downside pressure, hovering around the $5,170 region on Thursday. The yellow metal surrenders part of its earlier gains on the back of the resurgence of the buying interest in the Greenback. In the meantime, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continue to limit the downside potential for now.