China yesterday called on the US not to let President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) transit there when she visits Guatemala next month, days after US president-elect Donald Trump irked Beijing by speaking to Tsai in a break with decades of precedent.
Her call with Trump on Friday last week was the first by a US president or president-elect with a Taiwanese leader since then-US president Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979.
Tsai is due to visit Guatemala, one of its small band of diplomatic allies, on Jan. 11-12, Guatemalan Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Raul Morales told reporters.
He gave no details on what Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales and Tsai would discuss.
The Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Monday reported that Tsai was planning to transit in New York early next month on her way to visit Central American allies Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador.
The Presidential office has not formally confirmed Tsai’s trip, but visits to Taiwan’s allies in the region are normally combined with transit stops in the US and meetings with Taiwan-friendly US officials.
Asked about the possibility of a Tsai stopover in the US, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the “one China” principle is commonly recognized by the international community.
“As for the issue you raise of a ‘transit’ in the United States by the leader of the Taiwan region, her real aim is self-evident,” the ministry said in a statement sent to reporters.
China hopes the US “does not allow her transit, and does not send any wrong signals to ‘Taiwan independence’ forces,” it added.
The Presidential Office said media reports about a January trip were “excessive speculation.”
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Eleanor Wang (王珮玲) yesterday reiterated that any presidential travel details would be issued at the appropriate time.
El Salvador’s government said it was working with Taiwan on plans for a visit by Tsai next month, but gave no specific dates.
The Nicaraguan government had no immediate comment.
However, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is to be sworn in for a third consecutive term on Jan. 10, so Tsai’s trip to Guatemala would dovetail with that ceremony.
The trip would take place before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, and Tsai’s delegation would seek to meet Trump’s team, the Liberty Times said.
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