TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Taiwan's top China policymaker on Wednesday said Chinese military threats would only drive the two sides further apart, as state media in the island's giant neighbor warned of a strong response to a U.S. visit by Taiwan's president.
China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has expressed anger at President Lai Ching-te's weekend trip to Hawaii on his way to three countries in the Pacific that maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taipei.
Lai, who is also due to spend one night in the U.S. territory of Guam on Wednesday, is making what are formally only stopovers. However, he spent two days in Hawaii where he met the governor, gave speeches and visited a World War II memorial.
Security sources have told Reuters that China could stage new war games around Taiwan as early as this weekend in response to the trip.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Mainland Affairs Council minister Chiu Chui-cheng said Lai's trip to consolidate friendship with other countries was supported by the Taiwanese public.
"But the Chinese communists threaten Taiwan with military hegemony, which I think is something our citizens do not agree with," he said.
"This will only cause cross-strait relations to drift further and further away, and which will not be helpful to ties in the future."
The international community should take China's military drills and threats seriously, he added.
Lai and his government reject Beijing's sovereignty claims and say they have a right to engage with the rest of the world.
China calls Lai a "separatist" and has staged two rounds of war games around Taiwan since he took office in May. China's military also operates around Taiwan on a daily basis.
In a commentary on its website on Wednesday, Chinese state television said the real purpose of Lai's transits was to "rely on the United States to seek independence" which shows he is the real destroyer of peace in the Taiwan Strait.
"Lai is well aware that his 'transit' in the United States is bound to meet with resolute opposition and strong countermeasures from the mainland side, which will only aggravate the tense situation in the Taiwan Strait," it said.
Taiwan presidents customarily make transit stops in the United States on the way to and from far flung allies in the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean in what the United States says is a routine practice done for safety and convenience reasons.
Chinese state television said that was merely an excuse for Taiwan to "legitimize" the trip.
"It is pushing Taiwan step by step into an even more dangerous situation," it added.
