Taiwan’s President Meets Hawaii’s Governor and Members of Congress in a Visit Condemned by China
HONOLULU (AP) — On a two-day visit to Hawaii, Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te met with the state’s governor and congressional representatives as part of a Pacific island tour that has already triggered criticism from Beijing.
On Sunday, China’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned U.S. support for Lai’s visit and lodged a formal complaint with the U.S. The ministry also criticized a recently announced U.S. weapons sale to Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as its own territory. The statement expressed China’s determination to monitor the situation closely and take resolute measures to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Hawaii was the first stop for Lai on a weeklong journey that will take him to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, and Palau, which together comprise three of the 12 countries that maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taipei.
On Saturday, Hawaii’s Governor Josh Green welcomed Lai at the state’s emergency management agency, where they discussed disaster preparedness. Green, previously a long-serving emergency room physician, shared how both he and Lai drew from their health care backgrounds to inform their governance approaches. Lai also trained as a physician and earned a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University.
“Together, we extended a warm aloha to Lai and his delegation, highlighting Hawai’i’s shared values of resilience and collaboration with Taiwan,” Green stated in an Instagram post.
Lai’s itinerary included a visit to Bishop Museum, Hawaii’s premier museum dedicated to natural history and Native Hawaiian culture.
In the evening, Lai posed for photographs with Hawaii’s congressional representatives and state lawmakers during a dinner banquet attended by the Taiwanese American community. U.S. Representative Ed Case, a Democrat representing Honolulu, remarked on social media about the enduring ties between the U.S. and Taiwan, emphasizing shared values and interests.
It remains uncertain if Lai will meet with any senior officials from the Biden administration or representatives from the incoming Trump administration during his stay in Hawaii. President-elect Donald Trump previously suggested that Taiwan should financially contribute to its defense amid tensions with China. Trump has refrained from stating whether he would defend Taiwan against potential Chinese military actions.
The U.S. State Department announced an arms package that includes $385 million in spare parts and equipment for a fleet of F-16s, alongside support for tactical communication systems for Taiwan. The Taiwan Relations Act obligates the U.S. to assist Taiwan in its defense, although the U.S. maintains a position of strategic ambiguity regarding its potential involvement in the event of a Chinese invasion.
Former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen faced significant backlash from China during her visit to New York last year when she was en route to Latin America, where she met with former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The Chinese military conducted drills around Taiwan last year, serving as a “stern warning” against what it termed collusion between “separatists and foreign forces.” This was in response to Lai’s transit through the U.S. when he was still Taiwan’s vice president.
China firmly opposes visits by prominent American politicians to Taiwan, considering any official engagement with foreign governments and Taiwan an infringement on its territorial claims. The U.S. formally switched its recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.
