Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te appealed for continued American support to his island state during a stopover visit to Hawaii — a rare visit to U.S. soil by a Taiwanese leader that Beijing immediately denounced.
Mr. Lai, who also will visit a second strategic U.S. military hub in the Pacific on Guam during his first overseas trip as president, said in a speech Sunday that U.S. backing is critical for Taiwan’s survival.
Beijing criticized both Mr. Lai and the U.S. for the visit. China views Taiwan as a breakaway province and says Mr. Lai’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party is moving to make the island democracy an independent nation.
In Honolulu on Saturday and Sunday, the Taiwanese leader sought to send a message to both China and the incoming Trump administration that the U.S. cannot pull back in Asia in the face of Chinese threats.
“Peace is priceless, and war has no winners, we have to fight, fight together to prevent war,” Mr. Lai said during a visit Saturday to the sunken World War II battleship USS Arizona that is now a memorial of the 1941 surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
During remarks at the East-West Center in Honolulu on Sunday Mr. Lai said Taiwan is a major contributor to the global supply chain especially through its cutting-edge semiconductors, according to a summary of his comments made public by the presidential office in Taiwan. Taiwan produced chips widely used in a range of products from cars to artificial intelligence applications. Its major chip manufacturer TSMC is a key supplier to both Apple and Nvidia.
“The U.S.-Taiwan partnership not only strengthens these industries, but also demonstrates the strategic importance of Taiwan as a trusted and reliable partner,” the statement paraphrased Mr. Lai as saying in the closed-door session.
In remarks before leaving Taiwan, Mr. Lai said his first visit abroad is intended to emphasize Taiwan’s democratic values — a veiled rebuke to China’s communist system. The Lai visit follows the announcement of a new U.S. $320 million arms package to Taiwan for spare parts for its F-16 jets that have been stressed by stepped-up Chinese warplane incursions into the island air defense identification zone.
Among those in attendance at the speech were members of Congress from Hawaii, former U.S. officials and state lawmakers.
In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry “strongly condemned” the visit and warned of retaliatory measures.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China “firmly opposes” all official interaction between the U.S. and Taiwan, telling reporters, “The Taiwan question is at the core of China’s core interests, and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-U.S. relations.”
The spokesman said China urges the U.S. to recognize the “separatist nature” of Mr. Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and to “fully understand the grave damage of Taiwan independence separatist activities to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its territory, although China has never held sovereignty over the island that was a refuge for Nationalist Chinese forces during the civil war of the late 1940s. Official U.S. policy does not recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan and states that the issue must be resolved peacefully between the island and the mainland.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the People’s Liberation Army to be ready for military action against the island by 2027. He also has increased both military and political threats against the island and its leaders.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is among those who have called for the U.S. to formally recognize Taiwan as an independent state, something China vehemently opposes.
After two days in Hawaii, Mr. Lai travels in the coming days to three Pacific island allies that are among just a dozen countries worldwide that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. They include the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, and the Republic of Palau.
Former State Department China affairs official John Tkacik said the Lai visit to Hawaii was significant even through no senior Biden administration officials took part in welcoming him, with the new Taiwanese F-16V jet fighters that escorted Mr. Lai’s aircraft beyond the range of Chinese ships near Taiwan underscoring American backing and sending a subtle but clear message to President-elect Donald Trump.
#ROCAF F-16s escorted the presidential aircraft, marking a perfect start to this head-of-state diplomatic mission. pic.twitter.com/MpAgg3BQUD
— 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, ROC(Taiwan) 🇹🇼 (@MoNDefense) November 30, 2024
“The symbolism of the Trump-approved F-16V fighter escort was intended for the incoming U.S. administration,” Mr. Tkacik said.
“During the first Trump administration, the U.S. approved almost four times as much defense transfers to Taiwan as the Biden administration has permitted,” he said.
Mr. Tkacik said the U.S. reception last weekend in Honolulu was very cordial even though no senior Biden administration officials attended events with the Taiwan president.
“It’s clear President Lai wanted to reassure President-elect Trump of Taiwan’s commitment to its defense, to a massive defense and industrial partnership with the U.S., and to procuring however many billions in U.S. defense equipment and services the new Trump administration is prepared to make available to Taiwan,” he said.
Mr. Trump has sent mixed signals regarding Taiwan policy for his second four years in office, calling on Taipei to spend more on defense but also warning that he would “bomb Beijing” if it attacks Taiwan.
There are already issues for the new administration to address: The Treasury Department announced in October that the federal government and Taiwan’s representative office plan talks on ending the double tax on bilateral trade and investment that is also being addressed in draft congressional legislation. Ending the double tax barrier will increase investment by Taiwan in the U.S.
Taiwan is building an advanced semiconductor manufacturing plant in Arizona and leads the world in advanced microchip production.
• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.
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