Taiwan says it has contingency plans for China moves while President Tsai is abroad
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Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will make a stopover in the US next week on her way to Guatemala and Belize.
PHOTO: REUTERS
TAIPEI – Taiwan’s Defence Ministry has contingency plans for any moves by China during President Tsai Ing-wen’s overseas trip, Deputy Defence Minister Po Horng-huei said on Wednesday, ahead of Ms Tsai’s visit to the United States and Central America next week.
China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, carried out large-scale war games around the island last August
Ms Tsai is visiting diplomatic allies Guatemala and Belize on a trip starting next week, but she will be stopping off in New York and Los Angeles.
While in California, she is expected to meet US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the most sensitive leg of the trip, though Taiwan’s presidential office on Tuesday declined to confirm that the meeting would take place.
Asked by reporters on the sidelines of a Parliament session whether China was likely to stage more drills when Ms Tsai is abroad, Mr Po said the armed forces were prepared.
“When it comes to what the Chinese communists have done in the past, the Defence Ministry can have a grasp on it, and will consider the worst scenario,” he said.
“During the President’s overseas visit, the Defence Ministry has contingency plans for all moves” by China, Mr Po added, declining to give details.
The US has said there is no reason for China to react to Ms Tsai’s trip, saying such transits are routine and have happened many times before.
China, which has condemned Ms Tsai’s planned US stopover, has continued its military activities around Taiwan, though on a much reduced scale compared with last August. REUTERS
