In a sensitive visit that has angered Chinese officials, Taiwanese Vice President William Lai, a candidate for presidential elections in Taiwan next year, is making his first official stop in the United States twice on his way back from Paraguay, where he will attend the inauguration ceremony of President Santiago pinya .

 

---

Edited by |Alexander Yaxina

 

Politic section -  CJ journalist

 

 August,12,2023- Taipei

 

---

China opposes official contacts of other countries with Taiwan and often reacts angrily to stops by Taiwanese officials during their trips in the United States.

Before the flight took off on Saturday afternoon, he told reporters that he planned to "communicate with leaders from different countries of the world and meet with delegations from countries with the same interests" during his visit to Paraguay.

"I will inform the international community about the scale of our efforts to establish peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,"he added.

Before that, he wrote on the X platform (formerly Twitter) "excited to meet American friends during the transit".

In response to the letter, Laura Rosenberg, president of the American Institute in Taiwan, which serves as the embassy to Taiwan and is based in Virginia, wrote that officials "look forward to welcoming" Bligh.

Lai is expected to stop in New York on his way to Paraguay, and then in San Francisco on the return trip.

Last week, the Chinese foreign ministry urged US officials to "adhere to the one-China principle and stop official contacts between the United States and Taiwan".

Prior to Lai's departure, Taiwan sought to play down the importance of the visit, and State Department spokesman Jeff Liu said that "there is nothing significant" in the vice presidents ' stops on transit trips in the United States, which has happened 11 times previously.

"China has no reason to overreact or seize the opportunity to escalate the situation," Liu told a news conference this week, adding that Lai was visiting as vice president and not a presidential candidate.

Liu said, " if China decides ... To take provocative actions, it will be China, not Taiwan or the United States, that undermines the existing state of peace and stability in the region,"he said.

A few days before Lai's departure, violations by the Chinese military in the vicinity of Taiwan's waters and airspace, which have been going on almost daily for a year, were larger than usual.

On Wednesday, the defense ministry said that 33 Chinese warplanes and six ships had been spotted in the vicinity of Taiwan in the past 24 hours.

 

---

{source}<script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4474625449481215"

crossorigin="anonymous"></script>

<!-- moss test ad -->

<ins class="adsbygoogle"

style="display:block"

data-ad-client="ca-pub-4474625449481215"

data-ad-slot="6499882985"

data-ad-format="auto"

data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>

<script>

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

</script>{/source}