Taiwan’s president departed Saturday for a visit to the South Pacific that can embrace a two-day transit within the U.S., his first since assuming workplace.
The deliberate stopovers in Hawaii and the territory of Guam have already drawn fierce criticism from Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its personal territory and objects to official exchanges between it and the U.S., the island’s largest backer and army supplier.
Lai Ching-te left on a weeklong journey to go to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau — three diplomatic allies of the self-governed island within the Pacific.
“I need to use the values of democracy, peace, and prosperity to proceed to increase our cooperation with our allies, to deepen our partnership and let the world see Taiwan not simply as a mannequin of democracy, however a significant energy in selling the world’s peace and stability, and affluent growth,” he mentioned at Taoyuan International Airport forward of his departure.
Though Taiwan retains sturdy contacts with dozens of different nations, it has solely 12 formal diplomatic allies. The self-ruled democracy has lately been going through rising strain from China.
It is unclear whether or not Lai will meet with any members of the incoming U.S. administration throughout his transit.
President-elect Donald Trump mentioned in an interview with Bloomberg in July that Taiwan ought to pay for its protection. The island has bought billions of {dollars} of protection weaponry from the U.S.
Trump evaded answering whether or not he would defend the island from Chinese army motion. On Friday, the U.S. State Department mentioned it permitted the sale of $385 million in spare elements and tools for the fleet of F-16s, in addition to help for tactical communication system to Taiwan.
While the U.S. is obligated to assist the island defend itself underneath the Taiwan Relations Act, it has maintained a place of strategic ambiguity over whether or not it could ever get entangled if Taiwan have been to be invaded by China.
A second Trump administration is predicted to check U.S.-China relations much more than the Republican’s first time period, when the U.S. imposed tariffs on greater than $360 billion in Chinese merchandise. Taiwan is likely one of the foremost sources of pressure within the bilateral relationship.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning mentioned on Friday if the U.S. wished to keep up peace within the Taiwan Strait, it is necessary for it to deal with the Taiwan subject “with utmost warning, clearly opposing Taiwan independence and supporting China’s peaceable reunification.”
She additionally mentioned China firmly opposes any type of official interplay between the U.S. and Taiwan, together with visits by Taiwan’s leaders to the U.S. for any cause.
When former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen went to the U.S. final 12 months as a part of a transit to Latin America, it drew vocal opposition from China. Tsai met with the previous House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on the time.
The Chinese army additionally launched drills round Taiwan final 12 months as a “stern warning” over what it known as collusion between “separatists and international forces” days after Lai, then Taiwan’s vp, stopped over within the U.S.
China additionally strongly objects to main American politicians visiting the island because it views any official contact with international governments and Taiwan as an infringement on its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan. Washington switched its formal recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.