(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan said it is working out the details of President Lai Ching-te’s stop in US territory as part of a trip to Pacific Island nations, travels that would ratchet up tensions with China.
Lai will visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau from Nov. 30 to Dec. 6, Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang said Friday at briefing in Taipei.
When asked whether Lai would stop in the US as part of the trip, Tien said that “the arrangements for the transits are still being carefully planned, and it is not convenient to disclose details at this time.”
Bloomberg News reported earlier that Lai would stop in Hawaii and an American territory, possibly Guam, as part of the South Pacific trip.
Any stops by Lai on US soil would anger China, which has held major military maneuvers around Taiwan twice since he took office in May.
China opposes nations it has official ties with, like the US, from meeting officials in Taiwan. Beijing views the democracy of 23 million as a province that must be brought under its control, by force if necessary.
Lai’s travels come at a sensitive time, as Joe Biden prepares to leave the White House after repeatedly vowing to defend Taiwan from any Chinese invasion, muddying the established US position of strategic ambiguity.
President-elect Donald Trump’s comeback casts doubts over such reassurances, adding fresh turbulence to a major flashpoint between the world’s largest economies.
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