TAIPEI – Taiwan Vice President William Lai leaves on Saturday for a delicate journey to the United States, which China has condemned and Taiwanese officers worry might immediate extra Chinese army exercise across the democratically ruled island.
Lai, the front-runner to develop into Taiwan’s president in elections in January, is formally making solely transit stops within the United States on his technique to and from Paraguay for the swearing in of its president.
Taipei and Washington say such stopovers are routine and no trigger for China to take “provocative” actions, however Beijing has reacted with anger at what it sees as an additional signal of US help for Taiwan, which it claims as sovereign Chinese territory.
China is prone to launch army drills subsequent week close to Taiwan, utilizing Lai’s stopovers within the United States as a pretext to intimidate voters forward of subsequent yr’s election and make them “fear war”, Taiwanese officers say.
Beijing significantly dislikes Lai, who has prior to now described himself as a “practical worker for Taiwan independence”. Lai has, nonetheless, repeatedly stated throughout the election marketing campaign he doesn’t search to alter the established order.
Lai, who goes first to New York, wrote in English on social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, he was “excited to meet with US friends in transit” and to be going to Paraguay, one in all simply 13 nations to take care of formal ties with Taipei.
Laura Rosenberger, chair of the Virginia-based American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a US government-run non-profit that carries out unofficial relations with Taiwan, responded on X that AIT was trying ahead to welcoming him “during his transit en route to Paraguay”.
Neither Taiwan nor the United States have given actual particulars about his US schedule. Lai’s official schedule for Sunday states merely that he’s going to Paraguay.
Lai, scheduled to talk to reporters at Taiwan’s major worldwide airport on Saturday afternoon earlier than leaving, is to return from Paraguay by way of San Francisco.
The Paraguay leg of the journey can be vital given China’s rising efforts to take Taiwan’s remaining allies.
Honduras, as soon as a stalwart Taiwanese companion, switched relations to China in March. Lai went to Honduras final yr for the inauguration of its president and had a short although symbolic chat whereas there with US Vice President Kamala Harris. —Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
