President William Lai (賴清德) is planning to stop over in Hawaii and maybe Guam on a visit to Taipei’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific in the coming weeks, six sources told Reuters.
Lai, who won election in January, has yet to travel overseas since taking office in May.
Six sources briefed on the visit, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter, said that Lai is planning a stopover in Hawaii as part of an overseas trip starting in the coming weeks.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
A stopover in the US territory of Guam was also being discussed, four of the sources said.
Both Hawaii and Guam are home to major US military bases.
Two of the sources said that the stopovers would be part of Lai’s visit to Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific.
The Pacific countries of the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau are three of the 12 remaining states that maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taipei.
Reuters was unable to determine precisely which countries Lai would visit and when.
The Presidential Office said Lai “at present has no overseas trips planned,” but if he does, the government would announce it at an appropriate time.
“We refer you to the Taiwan authorities for the travel plans of high-level Taiwan officials. We have nothing further on this,” a US Department of State spokesperson said.
The offices of the presidents of Palau and the Marshall Islands and the Tuvalu government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Taiwan’s presidents typically make use of what are officially only stopovers in the US to meet friendly US politicians and give speeches.
Such stopovers are typically on visits to far-flung allies in the Pacific, Latin America or the Caribbean.
One person familiar with the US leg said they expected Lai’s visit to be lower-key than usual and that logistics are still being worked on.
The Pacific island nations visits are also important as China has been gradually whittling away at the number of countries there who have ties with Taiwan.
In January, tiny Nauru switched relations back to Beijing.
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