TAOYUAN, TAIWAN — Taiwan's president departed Saturday on a trip to the South Pacific that will include a two-day transit in the United States, his first since assuming office.
The planned stopovers in Hawaii and the territory of Guam have already drawn fierce criticism from Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and objects to official exchanges between it and the U.S., the island's biggest backer and military provider.
Lai Ching-te left on a weeklong trip to visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau — three diplomatic allies of the self-governed island in the Pacific.
“I want to use the values of democracy, peace and prosperity to continue to expand our cooperation with our allies, to deepen our partnership and let the world see Taiwan not just as a model of democracy, but a vital power in promoting the world's peace and stability, and prosperous development," he said at Taoyuan International Airport ahead of his departure.
Although Taiwan retains strong contacts with dozens of other nations, it has only 12 formal diplomatic allies. The self-ruled democracy has recently been facing increasing pressure from China.
In a speech shortly before take-off, Lai said the trip "ushered in a new era of values-based democracy," and he thanked the U.S. government for "helping to make this trip a smooth one."
Taiwan deployed four F-16 fighter jets to escort the Taiwan-flagged China Airlines plane carrying Lai, government officials and media outlets.
During the flight, Lai thanked all those on board for "travelling together to open up Taiwan's international space" in what he described as a "grand event."
"In the next seven days, we will definitely be able to work together to let Taiwan go global steadily and confidently," Lai said.
The trip has elicited a furious response from China, which has vowed to "resolutely crush" any attempts for Taiwan independence.
It is unclear whether Lai will meet with any members of the incoming U.S. administration during his transit.
President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg in July that Taiwan should pay for its defense. The island has purchased billions of dollars of defense weaponry from the U.S.
Trump avoided answering whether he would defend the island from Chinese military action. On Friday, the U.S. State Department said it approved the sale of $385 million in spare parts and equipment for the fleet of F-16s, as well as support for a tactical communication system to Taiwan.
While the U.S. is obligated to help the island defend itself under the Taiwan Relations Act, it has maintained a position of strategic ambiguity over whether it would ever get involved if Taiwan were to be invaded by China.
A second Trump administration is expected to test U.S.-China relations even more than the Republican’s first term, when the U.S. imposed tariffs on more than $360 billion in Chinese products. Taiwan is one of the main sources of tension in the bilateral relationship.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday if the U.S. wanted to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, it is important for it to handle the Taiwan issue “with utmost caution, clearly opposing Taiwan independence and supporting China’s peaceful reunification.”
She also said China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the U.S. and Taiwan, including visits by Taiwan’s leaders to the U.S. for any reason.
When former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen went to the U.S. last year as part of a transit to Latin America, it drew vocal opposition from China. Tsai met with the former House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the time.
The Chinese military also launched drills around Taiwan last year as a “stern warning” over what it called collusion between “separatists and foreign forces” days after Lai, then Taiwan’s vice president, stopped over in the U.S.
China also strongly objects to leading American politicians visiting the island, as it views any official contact with foreign governments and Taiwan as an infringement on its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan. Washington switched its formal recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.
