China retaliated against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen by announcing sanctions against the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and other organizations on Friday, further exacerbating tensions over the self-governed island democracy that Beijing claims as part of its territory. enlarged further.

McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) held talks with Tsai at the library in Simi Valley on Wednesday, despite Chinese warnings. McCarthy joined a growing string of foreign lawmakers who have met with Tsai in a show of support for Taiwan in the face of Chinese harassment.

Relations between China and the US have fallen to their lowest level in decades due to disputes over the status of Taiwan, which split with China in 1949 following a civil war, as well as security, technology and Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong and ethnic Muslim minorities .

The mainland’s ruling Communist Party says Taiwan is obliged to reunite with China, by force if necessary, and has no right to maintain foreign relations. President Xi Jinping’s government says contact with foreign officials will encourage Taiwanese who want formal independence, a move Beijing says would lead to war.

China’s foreign ministry has announced that the Reagan Library and the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, have been sanctioned for providing a platform and convenience for separatist activities in Taiwan. It said Chinese institutions should not have any cooperation or contact with them.

An email requesting comment from the library was not immediately answered Thursday night.

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Tsai accepted a leadership award from the Hudson Institute as part of her US tour and gave a speech on Taiwan’s regional security challenges.

China’s foreign ministry also cited Sarah May Stern, chairman of the board of directors of the Hudson Institute; John P. Walters, the institute’s director; John Heubusch, former executive director of the Reagan Foundation, and Joanne M. Drake, the foundation’s chief administrator.

The ministry said they would not be allowed to visit China and any property or financial assets belonging to them in China would be frozen.

We will take resolute measures to punish Taiwan’s separatist independence forces and their actions, and resolutely protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country, the Chinese cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement Thursday.

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The US government has no official relations with Taiwan, but maintains extensive informal and commercial ties. Washington is required by federal law to ensure that the island has the means to defend itself if attacked by China.

Xi’s government has stepped up efforts to intimidate Taiwan by flying fighter jets and firing missiles into the nearby sea.

McCarthy’s predecessor as speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), flew to Taiwan in August and met Tsai. Legislators from European parliaments have also visited the island.

In addition, two groups in Asia, the Prospect Foundation and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, were penalized for their involvement in promoting Taiwan’s independence under the guise of academic and research exchanges, said Zhu Fenglian, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office.

The Prospect Foundation is a Taiwanese think tank that works on dialogue and cooperation on security, economics and social development in Taiwan. The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats is a Thailand-based regional organization that promotes exchanges between liberal and democratic political parties in Asia. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan is a member.

Separately, the Taiwan Affairs Office also announced further sanctions against Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s representative to the US.

The ban on Hsiao does not seem to differ in substance from the ban imposed on her when Pelosi visited Taiwan. China had announced sanctions against a list of individuals from the Democratic Progressive Party and the ruling government, including Hsiao. It then banned the individuals, their relatives and related organizations from traveling or operating in China, including Hong Kong. Friday’s announcement said any financial sponsors of Hsiao are also included.