Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen started a tour of two Central American countries on Wednesday. The trip includes two transit stops in the United States, where she will likely meet House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Tsai is due to visit Guatemala and Belize via New York. The two Central American nations have diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Before returning home on April 7, she will stop in Los Angeles.

At an airport before her departure, Tsai issued a statement saying she would like to thank democratic partners for supporting Taiwan, and that she will tell the world that democratic Taiwan firmly defends the values of freedom.

Taiwan's presidential office has not announced a meeting between Tsai and McCarthy. But Mike Gallagher, the chair of a US congressional committee on China, said last week that McCarthy would meet Tsai in the US.

Observers say Tsai wants to show off her administration's close ties with the US, with China apparently in mind. They say she hopes the results from the tour will lead to support for a candidate from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan's presidential election slated for next January.

China says it resolutely opposes a meeting between Tsai and McCarthy. China's Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council spokesperson Zhu Fenglian told reporters on Wednesday that Tsai's party is making excuses for its political desires and seeking independence by using various opportunities.

Zhu said that if Tsai has contact with McCarthy, it gravely violates Beijing's "One China Principle," undermines China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and constitutes a provocation to destroy peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. She said China will take countermeasures if it happens.

When then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last August, China responded with massive military drills near Taiwan.