China condemns visit of ‘troublemaker’ Taiwan Vice-President William Lai to US

NEW YORK - China on Sunday condemned a brief US visit by Taiwan’s Vice-President William Lai, saying he was a separatist and “troublemaker through and through”, and that Beijing would take strong steps to protect its sovereignty, drawing a rebuke from Taipei.

Mr Lai, the front runner to be Taiwan’s next president at the election in January, arrived in New York late on Saturday for what is officially a transit on his way to Paraguay for the inauguration of its president.

China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has repeatedly denounced Mr Lai’s trip, which includes another stopover in San Francisco on Wednesday on his way back to Taipei.

In a statement issued shortly after Mr Lai landed in New York on a scheduled flight from Taipei, China’s Foreign Ministry said it opposed any form of visit by “Taiwan independence separatists” to the United States.

“Lai stubbornly adheres to the separatist position of Taiwan independence and is a troublemaker through and through,” the ministry said.

Taiwan is the “core of China’s core interests”, and facts have shown again and again that the reason for the rise in tensions in the Taiwan Strait is Taiwan trying to “rely on the US to seek independence”, the ministry said.

“China is closely following developments, and will take resolute and vigorous measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

In response, Taiwan’s China-policymaking Mainland Affairs Council said China was the real troublemaker, pointing to its stand-off in August with the Philippines in the South China Sea and continued military harassment of Taiwan, among other actions.

“Our government firmly defends national sovereignty and security, guards the lines of defence of democracy and freedom, and will never back down, let alone capitulate,” the council said in a statement.

China has an especial dislike of Mr Lai, who has previously described himself as a “practical worker for Taiwan independence”, though he has repeatedly said on the campaign trail he is not seeking to change the status quo, and that only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.

A person familiar with the trip’s planning said Mr Lai will join receptions with overseas Taiwanese during the stopover in New York, during which he will make a speech.

He will not meet US lawmakers, the person said, adding that Mr Lai will keep the visit “low-key”, in line with Taipei and Washington’s shared position to “jointly manage risks when facing an authoritarian region at this sensitive time”.

Mr Lai, greeted by supporters waving flags as he arrived at his New York hotel, wrote on social media platform X that he was “looking forward to seeing friends and attending transit programmes in New York”.

Ms Laura Rosenberger, chair of the American Institute in Taiwan, a US government-run non-profit organisation that carries out unofficial relations with Taiwan, said on X that she would meet Mr Lai in San Francisco, where he is due to stop over on Wednesday on his way home.

Mr Lai’s US stopover will be the 11th by a Taiwanese vice-president, according to the US State Department, which calls these stopovers routine but “private and unofficial”.

The US does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

But Washington is its most important international source of weapons, and the island’s contested status is a constant source of friction with Beijing.

Beijing is likely to launch military drills this week near Taipei, using Mr Lai’s US stopovers as a pretext to intimidate voters ahead of the election in 2024 and make them “fear war”, Taiwanese officials say.

On Sunday, the Eastern Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army, which is responsible for the area around Taiwan, posted on its WeChat account a short video of fighter jets practising dog fights at an undisclosed location.

It said its forces had recently been engaged in “high-intensity flight training”.

Mr Lai’s transits come as Beijing and Washington are trying to improve relations.

That includes the prospect of a visit to the US by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, which could pave the way for a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2023.

Paraguay is one of the few remaining countries in the world that retain formal ties with Taiwan.

Mr Lai has made one prior US transit as Taiwan’s vice-president, in January 2022 on a trip to Honduras, a then ally of the island that switched its diplomatic recognition to Beijing in early 2023.

Mr Lai said he would use the Paraguay visit not only to deepen ties with that country, but also to have “self-confident” exchanges with other countries and meet delegations from like-minded partners. He did not say who these are.

This would “let the international community understand that Taiwan is a country that adheres to democracy, freedom and human rights, and actively participates in international affairs”, he added.

Mr Lai went to Honduras in 2022 for the inauguration of its president and had a brief, though symbolic, chat there with US Vice-President Kamala Harris.

The US has not announced who may be going to Paraguay this week. REUTERS