President William Lai (賴清德) has no plans to travel overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday after Nikkei Asia reported that he had sent a top aide to the US to prepare for a potential stopover there during a visit to Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the region.
Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said that no overseas itinerary has been arranged for Lai, describing the magazine report as “incorrect.”
Nikkei Asia earlier yesterday reported that Taiwan had sent National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Vincent Chao (趙怡翔) to engage with the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Photo: Taipei Times
Chao’s mission was to explore the possibility of scheduling a US stopover as part of a trip by Lai to Guatemala, Paraguay and Belize by the end of the year, the magazine reported, citing unnamed sources.
Chao held a private meeting with think tank experts in Washington and met separately with figures close to the Trump administration, it reported.
Chao was previously head of the political division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington — Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the US — during Trump’s first term.
He aimed to “turn a new page in the relationship” during his trip, Nikkei Asia reported.
Chao’s visit was at a sensitive time, it added.
Trump has said that he would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea later this month and also plans to visit China early next year.
Over the summer, the Trump administration reportedly discouraged Lai from transiting in New York on his way to Latin America, with Trump blocking the stopover following protests from Beijing.
Lai subsequently postponed or canceled the trip, international media reported.
At the time, US officials were reportedly concerned that stopovers by Lai in the US could derail trade talks with China.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the time denied that Lai had postponed or canceled any overseas travel, saying that no trip had been planned.
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