Taiwan president defiant after China threatens retaliation for US trip
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[March 29, 2023]
By Fabian Hamacher and Bernard Orr
TAOYUAN, Taiwan/BEIJING (Reuters) -External pressure will not stop
Taiwan engaging with the world, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday
as she left for the United States, hitting a defiant note after China
threatened retaliation if she met U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
China, which claims democratically-ruled Taiwan as its own territory,
has repeatedly warned U.S. officials not to meet Tsai, viewing it as
support for the island's desire to be seen as a separate country.
China staged war games around Taiwan last August when then-U.S. House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, and Taiwan's armed forces have said
they are keeping watch for any Chinese moves when Tsai is abroad.
Tsai is going to Guatemala and Belize, transiting through New York first
and Los Angeles on the way back. While not officially confirmed, she is
expected to meet McCarthy while in California.
"External pressure will not hinder our determination to go to the
world," she said at Taiwan's main international airport at Taoyuan, in a
veiled reference to China.
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"We are calm and confident, will neither yield nor provoke. Taiwan will
firmly walk on the road of freedom and democracy and go into the world.
Although this road is rough, Taiwan is not alone," added Tsai, who is
due to arrive in New York early Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking in Beijing shortly before Tsai left, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson
of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said Tsai's "transits" of the United
States were not just her waiting at the airport or hotel, but for her to
meet U.S. officials and lawmakers.
"If she has contact with U.S. House Speaker McCarthy, it will be another
provocation that seriously violates the one-China principle, harms
China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and destroys peace and
stability in the Taiwan Strait," she said.
"We firmly oppose this and will definitely take measures to resolutely
fight back," Zhu added, without giving details.
Tsai's transits will come at a time when U.S. relations with China are
at what some analysts see as their worst level since Washington
normalised ties with Beijing in 1979 and switched diplomatic recognition
from Taipei.
Taiwan is China's most sensitive territorial issue and a major bone of
contention with Washington, which, like most countries, maintains only
unofficial ties with Taipei. However, the United States government is
required by U.S. law to provide the island with the means to defend
itself.
NO REASON TO OVERREACT
The United States says such transits by Taiwanese presidents are routine
and that China should not use Tsai's trip to take any aggressive moves
against Taiwan.
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![](../images/032923PIX/news_a21.jpg)
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen arrives
for her departure to New York to start her trip to Guatemala and
Belize at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan March 29,
2023. REUTERS/Ann Wang
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The United States sees no reason for China to overreact to planned
transits of the United States this week and next month by Taiwan's
president, senior U.S. officials said ahead of Tsai's departure.
A senior U.S. official said that in her previous transits Tsai had
engaged in a range of activities, including meetings with members of
Congress, the Taiwanese diaspora and other groups.
"So there's absolutely no reason for Beijing to use this upcoming
transit as an excuse or a pretext to carry out aggressive or
coercive activities aimed at Taiwan," the official said.
Taiwanese presidents routinely pass through the United States while
visiting diplomatic allies in Latin America, the Caribbean and the
Pacific, which, although not official visits, are often used by both
sides for high-level meetings.
Taiwan's government rejects China's sovereignty claims, and while
Tsai has repeatedly offered talks with Beijing she has also said
only Taiwan's people can decide their future.
Tsai's trip has unnerved security agencies in Taiwan, who worry that
China could launch a series of influence campaigns including
spreading misinformation on social media platforms to sway public
perceptions of Tsai's U.S. transit, according to an internal memo by
a Taiwan security agency, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters.
The note said China had used large-scale influence campaigns
including cyber attacks against Taiwan during Pelosi's visit last
year, and Taiwan authorities expected Beijing to deepen its
"cognitive operations" in the coming days.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
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China claimed another diplomatic victory over Taiwan on Sunday when
one-time loyal Taiwan ally Honduras switched diplomatic recognition
to Beijing. Only 13 countries now maintain formal ties with Taiwan.
China says that both it and Taiwan belong to "one China" and that as
a Chinese province the island has no right to any sort of
state-to-state ties. Taiwan strongly disputes that view.
(Reporting by Bernard Orr and Fabian Hamacher; Additional reporting
by Yimou Lee in Taipei and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Writing
by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Michael Perry and Raissa
Kasolowsky)
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