China says its priority is to stop Taiwan Vice-President Lai from visiting US in August

BEIJING - It is China’s priority to

stop Taiwan’s Vice-President and presidential front-runner William Lai

from visiting the United States in August, the country’s ambassador in Washington said on Wednesday, as Beijing steps up its warnings against the trip.

China, which views Taiwan as a renegade province, has stepped up military and political pressure over the past three years as it seeks reunification with the island, with force if necessary.

Taiwan will hold presidential and parliamentary elections in January, with Mr Lai, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential candidate, the front-runner in most opinion polls.

Mr Lai is making what are officially stopovers in the US on his way to and from Paraguay for the Aug 15 inauguration of its new president, drawing anger from Beijing, which slammed him as a separatist.

Chinese ambassador Xie Feng told the Aspen Security Forum that “Taiwan is China’s Taiwan”, and that the country wanted a peaceful “reunification”, but Taiwan “separatists” were advancing their agenda, seeking US support. “They even do not admit they are Chinese. So this is a very dangerous path they are taking,” Mr Xie said.

Provocative moves by Taiwan “separatists” should be contained, he added. “Now, the priority for us is to stop Lai Ching-te from visiting the United States, which is like a grey rhino charging at us,” Mr Xie said, using Mr Lai’s Chinese-language name.

A “grey rhino” event refers to a highly obvious yet ignored threat.

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said in response that China had no cause to use Mr Lai’s transit to “start a fight”, and China was acting absurdly in trying to claim it was an upholder of peace while continuously harrying the island with its military.

“As senior US officials have publicly emphasised, the relevant arrangements are no different from previous practice,” the ministry said in a statement.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said that on Thursday, it detected 22 Chinese warplanes around the island, some of which crossed the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait, while seven Chinese warships carried out “combat readiness patrols”.

Mr Lai last transited the US in January 2022 on a visit to Honduras. While there, he briefly spoke with US Vice-President Kamala Harris.

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and her government have repeatedly offered talks with China but have been rejected, as Beijing views them as separatists. Both Ms Tsai and Mr Lai say only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.

The top US diplomat in Taipei said on Wednesday that there was

no reason for China to take “provocative” action

in response to Mr Lai’s stopovers in the US, and that such transits have happened for many years and are routine.

In August last year, and then again in April this year, China staged large-scale war games around Taiwan, angered by the August visit to Taiwan of then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and in April by Ms Tsai meeting current House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles while the Taiwan President was transiting back from a visit to Central America. REUTERS