Taiwan’s president set to visit Hawaii and Guam, drawing Beijing’s ire

Taipei, Taiwan CNN —

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te will visit Hawaii and the US territory of Guam during an upcoming trip to the Pacific, prompting condemnations from China, which could respond by staging a fresh round of military drills near the island democracy.

Lai will begin his visit on Saturday to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, and Palau – three small Pacific countries that are among Taiwan’s 12 formal diplomatic allies. During the visit, Lai will stop over for two nights in Hawaii and one night in Guam – his first transit through US soil since taking office in May, Taipei’s presidential office told CNN.

While on US soil, Lai is expected to “meet with old friends” and participate in closed-door discussions with think tanks, according to Taiwan’s official Central News Agency.

Taiwanese leaders have often used visits to diplomatic allies to make unofficial stopovers in the United States, which has remained Taiwan’s most important backer and arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations.

The Taiwanese president’s upcoming trip has already drawn the ire of Beijing. A Chinese defense ministry spokesman told a press briefing on Thursday that the military would “resolutely crush any separatist attempt seeking Taiwan independence”.

“Political manipulation and provocation to seek ‘Taiwan independence’ are doomed to fail and can never stop the historical trend of China’s reunification,” spokesman Wu Qian added.

The Taiwan Affairs Office, a Chinese government agency responsible for cross-strait affairs, also labeled Lai’s visit as “a provocative act,” and called on the United States to “stop sending wrong signals to Taiwan’s independence forces.”

China’s ruling Communist party claims Taiwan as a part of