Taiwan Vice President Stops Over In New York

Taiwan Vice President, William Lai arrived in New York at the start of a sensitive US stopover, which China has condemned and Taiwanese officials fear could prompt more Chinese military activity around the democratically governed island.

Lai, the front-runner to become Taiwan’s president in elections in January, is officially making only transit stops in the United States on his way to and from Paraguay for the swearing-in of its president next week.

Lai said that he had arrived in New York, on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Happy to arrive at the #BigApple, icon of liberty, democracy & opportunities,

“Looking forward to seeing friends & attending transit programs in #NewYork,” Lai posted.

Neither Taiwan nor the US has given exact details about his US schedule, which both are aiming to keep low-key, according to officials briefed on the trip.

Laura Rosenberger, chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a US government-run non-profit that carries out unofficial relations with Taiwan, said on X that she would meet Lai in San Francisco.

Provocative  Action
Taipei and Washington call US stopovers by Taiwanese official’s routine and no cause for China to take ‘provocative’ actions, but Beijing has reacted with anger at what it sees as a further sign of US support for Taiwan, which it claims as its own.

Meanwhile, China is likely to launch military drills next week near Taiwan, using Lai’s US stopovers as a pretext to intimidate voters ahead of a next year’s election and make them ‘fear war,’ Taiwanese officials say.

Lai, speaking to reporters before leaving Taiwan, made only fleeting mention of the US part of his trip, simply noting he was going to New York first.

Report says Lai’s US stopover will be the 11th by a Taiwanese vice president, according to the State Department, which calls them routine but “private and unofficial.”

However, Washington does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is its most important international source of weapons, and the island’s contested status is a constant source of friction with Beijing.

Paraguay is one of the few remaining countries in the world that retains formal ties with Taiwan.

Lai has made one prior US transit as Taiwan’s vice president, in January 2022 on a trip to Honduras, a then-ally of the island that switched its diplomatic recognition to Beijing in early 2023.

Lai said he would use the Paraguay visit not only to deepen ties with that country but also to have ‘self-confident’ exchanges with other countries and meet with delegations from like-minded partners. He did not say who.

This would “let the international community understand that Taiwan is a country that adheres to democracy, freedom, and human rights, and actively participates in international affairs,” Lai added.

Report says Lai went to Honduras last year for the inauguration of its president and had a brief though symbolic chat there with US Vice President Kamala Harris

The United States has not announced who may be going to Paraguay next week.

Sources told newsmen that the Biden administration was eager to keep Lai’s visit low-profile so as not to stoke tensions before Taiwan’s election and to preserve the recent momentum in US engagements with senior Chinese officials.

That includes the prospect of a visit to the US by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi which could pave the way for a meeting between US President Joe Biden and China’s leader Xi Jinping this year.

REUTERS/Christopher Ojilere