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Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen was welcomed to New York - now she's held a face-to-face meeting in California with the speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy.
Supporters waved Taiwan flags; after the two politicians entered the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library a small plane flew over towing a pro-Beijing banner saying "One China! Taiwan is part of China!"
Tsai gave a short statement, saying Taiwan's democracy was "facing unprecedented challenges" and adding that the island was "grateful to have the US by its side".
China's foreign ministry condemned the meeting, referring to "seriously erroneous acts of collusion" between the US and Taiwan, reports BBC.
The timing of Tsai's visit is hardly a coincidence. In the US there is deep and growing hostility to China. And this is driving ever more open displays of support for Taiwan, with Democrats and Republicans competing to out-do each other.
It's a big reason former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was so keen on landing in Taipei last summer, despite the fact that it set off a furious reaction from China. The self-governed island, which Beijing claims as part of its territory, is arguably the biggest flashpoint between the US and China.
"I was personally very opposed to the Pelosi visit," says professor William Stanton, former director of the American Institute in Taiwan. "For a high-level politician from the US to make a visit to the island was just poking China without much reward. And the consequences were quite scary."
Chinese missiles flew over the island as Beijing made blood-curdling threats. In capitals around the region governments began talking seriously about the timetable for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
