President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to stop over in the US on her way to and from Central America next week, but her administration would not confirm a meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Tsai’s delegation is to leave Taipei on Wednesday next week and stop over in New York City, Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) told a news conference yesterday.
Tsai is then to head to Guatemala on Saturday next week for talks with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and to meet with Taiwanese expatriates, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
On April 3, Tsai is scheduled to travel to Belize to meet with Belizean Prime Minister Johnny Briceno, give a speech at the Belizean Parliament, attend a state banquet hosted by Belizean Governor-General Froyla Tzalam, and tour an exhibition on women’s empowerment.
Tsai’s delegation will then fly from Belize to Los Angeles for a transit stop on April 4, before returning to Taiwan on the night of April 7, the ministry said.
Sources told Reuters that McCarthy intends to meet her during the California leg of her visit.
Asked whether he could confirm the McCarthy meeting, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui (俞大㵢) said details of the US transits would be released at a later date once arrangements have been finalized.
Taiwanese presidents routinely pass through the US while visiting diplomatic allies in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific, which, while not official visits to the US, are often used by both sides for high-level meetings.
China has said it is “seriously concerned” about Tsai’s transit plans.
Speaking shortly before Taiwan’s announcement of Tsai’s trip, a senior US administration official said her expected transits are standard practice and China should not use them as a pretext for aggressive action toward Taipei.
Every president of Taiwan has transited through the US, and Tsai has done so herself six times since taking office in 2016, most recently in 2019, the official said, adding that Tsai had met members of the US Congress during those visits.
“We see no reason for Beijing to turn this transit, again, which is consistent with long-standing US policy, into anything but what it is. It should not be used as a pretext to step up any aggressive activity around the Taiwan Strait,” the official said.
The official said Washington had communicated to Beijing that Tsai’s stopovers are in keeping with precedent.
“There is nothing new from our point of view,” the official said.
Noting that US President Joe Biden hoped to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) soon and that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would like to reschedule a postponed trip to Beijing, the official said: “We urge the PRC [People’s Republic of China] to keep these channels of communication open.”
“In terms of contact with McCarthy’s office, we offer briefings to members before engagements. We tend to do that before travel, before meetings. We’ve had some regular contact there,” the official added.
Tsai’s anticipated US meeting with McCarthy is seen as a potential alternative to a sensitive visit by the US speaker to Taiwan, a trip he has said he hopes to make.
China staged military exercises around Taiwan in August last year following a visit to Taipei by then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Additional reporting by CNA
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS