TAIPEI: Taiwanese President Lai Ching-tei will stop in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam during a tour of the Pacific, his office said Thursday, in a bid to “firmly crush” any efforts by China to seek independence from Taiwan. A new commitment was expressed.
China insists that democratically independent Taiwan is part of its territory and opposes international recognition of the island.
Lai will leave on Saturday for a visit to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau – the only Pacific islands of Taiwan’s 12 remaining allies.
This will be Lai’s first foreign visit since taking office in May.
Taiwanese government officials have previously stopped on the US mainland during trips to the Pacific or Latin America, angering Chinese leaders in Beijing.
In an immediate reaction to news of Lai’s visit, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said “we strongly oppose any form of official interaction with China’s Taiwan territory”.
“The Chinese (military) are with the sacred mission of safeguarding national sovereignty and will resolutely crush all separatist efforts for Taiwan independence,” Wu said at a press conference.
Taiwan’s military deployed aircraft, ship and shore-based missile systems after 19 Chinese aircraft were detected near the island on Thursday evening, Taiwan’s defense ministry said.
Fifteen aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which separates the two, in a “joint combat readiness patrol” with Chinese navy ships, the statement said.
A source in the presidential office told AFP on condition of anonymity that Lai would spend two nights in Hawaii and one night in Guam, meeting “old friends” and “think tank members”.
Communist China, which has never ruled Taiwan, has tried to erase it from the international stage, barring it from global forums and pressuring companies to refer to the island as a “Chinese province” on their websites. Enter on
Taiwan competes as Chinese Taipei at international sporting events and Beijing competes when Taipei officials meet with foreign politicians or government representatives.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said on Thursday that Lai’s planned visits were “separatist measures”.
“We have consistently opposed official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan… and condoned and supported the Taiwan independence separatists and their separatist actions by the United States,” Mao said at a regular press conference. .
In recent decades, Taiwan has hurt its allies as they have jumped ship to a rising China, which has deep pockets to provide aid and investment.
The US is Taiwan’s most important partner and key security supporter, but does not recognize Taipei diplomatically.
Lai’s predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, traveled through Hawaii and Guam during her first official visit to Pacific allies in 2017.
Tsai also met with then US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California in April 2023 during a tour of Latin America, to which Beijing responded with military exercises around the island.
Tensions between China and Taiwan have risen since Lai took power in May.
Both Lai and Tsai belong to the Democratic Progressive Party, but Lai has been more outspoken in defending the island’s sovereignty and Beijing calls him a “separatist”.