CHINA has warned that US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy will “repeat disastrous past mistakes” if his planned meeting with a senior politician from the breakaway island of Taiwan goes ahead tomorrow.

Mr McCarthy was told by Chinese officials that a meeting with Tsai Ing-wen would not help foster peace and stability in the region.

Mr McCarthy is planning to host a meeting with Ms Tsai in California, during what the Chinese described as a “false” transit stop.

China’s consulate in California accused Ms Tsai of putting on “a political show” for the US.

In a statement, it said that her visit was “not conducive to regional peace, security nor stability and is not in the common interests of the people of China and the United States.”

Criticising Mr McCarthy for playing the “Taiwan card,” the consulate said that the meeting “will undoubtedly repeat disastrous past mistakes and further damage Sino-US relations.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that Beijing  would follow developments and “vigorously defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the island’s government “does not accept interference or suppression by any country for any reason and will not limit itself because of intimidation or interference.”

Washington’s long-standing “one-China” policy acknowledges that there is one Chinese state including Taiwan in the eyes of both the Beijing and Taipei governments, but Washington has continued to arm Taiwan since transferring recognition to Beijing in the 1970s.

The row came ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to China which will start tomorrow.

Time on the world stage might be a relief for Mr Macron, who faces severe pressure at home as protests continue over his attack on pension rights.

He signalled last Friday that he would try during his trip to persuade China to use its influence to help end the war in Ukraine, though European countries have largely ignored China’s 12-point peace plan.

An official from Mr Macron’s office briefed reporters that “China is the only country in the world capable of having an immediate and radical impact on the conflict.”

However, standing alongside visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Brussels, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell criticised China today for supporting Russia.

Without offering evidence, he accused Beijing of “siding with the aggressor” and violating its responsibility as a permanent member of the United Nations security council “to stand up in defence of the international rules-based order.”