After China held military drills around Taiwan, the US asked China to be calm.

As tensions rise in the Asia-Pacific region, the US has asked China to be careful, especially since Beijing has started military drills around Taiwan.

A spokesperson for the State Department said that the US was ready to keep its security promises in the area and that contact lines with China were still open.

AFP reported that a State Department spokesperson said about the People’s Republic of China, “Our lines of communication with the PRC remain open, and we have always urged restraint and no change to the status quo.”

Even though the US hasn’t said if it would defend Taiwan physically, it has sold weapons to the self-governing democracy for decades to help it protect itself.

The US is also obligated by treaty to protect its allies in the area, including Japan, which was hit by China’s military exercises around Taiwan in August.

After Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California, the news of the military training was seen as a “stern warning” from China.

US officials have said that the Taiwanese President’s stopover in the US was a normal part of her trip to and from Latin America.

The US told China not to get too angry. McCarthy has since spoken out against China, saying that they can’t tell him where to go or who to talk to.

“I’m the Speaker of the House. China has no right to tell me where I can go or who I can talk to, McCarthy said on Twitter.