The head of US diplomacy on Monday urged China not to take too “pretext for provocations» Taiwanese Vice President William Lai’s transit through the United States during a trip to Paraguay.
“There is no reason for the People’s Republic of China to use this transit as a pretext for provocationssaid Secretary of State Antony Blinken, calling this type of stopover in the United States “very usual“.
Beijing angry
Taiwan said on Monday that its Vice President William Lai would go to the inauguration ceremony of the new president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, in August, stopping on US territory. Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, had already made such a trip through the United States this spring on her way to Guatemala and Belize, where she was supposed to strengthen the island’s diplomatic ties. Tsai Ing-wen, who had stopped in New York on the way out and in Los Angeles on the way back, had this second time met the chairman of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy. This meeting had angered Beijing, which had carried out several days of military exercises around Taiwan in retaliation. The Chinese authorities have for decades claimed Taiwan as one of their territories and have tried to convince countries friendly to Taipei to abandon their alliance in favor of Beijing. Paraguay is one of the few Latin American countries that still recognizes Taiwan. Its president-elect Santiago Peña, who visited Taipei last week, said Wednesday that his country would stand.along sidein Taiwan during his five-year tenure.
William Lai’s visit to Asuncion next month is aimed at “to show the importance to Taiwan of its diplomatic relations with ParaguayThis was said by Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yui on Monday. “Taiwanese vice presidents have passed through the United States ten times before (…) There is no justification for unnecessary intimidation“, he added in response to a question about the possibility of Chinese military exercises in response to this transit via the United States. William Lai last stopped in the United States in January 2022 for the inauguration ceremony of Xiomara Castro, Honduras’ first female president, who has since sided with Beijing. In in recent years Panama, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras have become Beijing’s allies to the detriment of Taiwan.
