Taiwan’s president is planning to make a stopover visit to the United States in January, despite objections from China, Taiwanese Deputy Foreign Minister Javier Hou said on Thursday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to Hou, President Tsai Ing-wen's intended stopover in the United States will be made in accordance with past practice, The Guardian reported.
The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry is looking to organize a meeting between the Taiwanese leader and members of the US Senate and House of Representatives, Hou added, speaking to the Taiwan legislature’s foreign and national defense committee.
The president's trip, which will last nine days and begins on January 7, will include state visits to Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador. The location and duration of the stopover in the United States have not yet been announced.
Earlier this week, China repeated its objection to the visit, claiming that if Washington allowed it to take place, it could be perceived as support for Taiwan's independence.
On December 2, Donald Trump became the first US president or president-elect to speak with a Taiwanese leader in an official capacity since 1979. On December 11, Trump said he would not be bound by the "one China" policy regarding relations with Taiwan.
After Chinese Nationalist forces were defeated by Mao Zedong’s Communists, the Nationalist government moved to Taiwan in 1949. Since then, Beijing has viewed the self-ruled, democratic island as a breakaway province. The United States, along with many other countries, does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation and sticks officially to the "One China" position, but has kept informal relations with the island after severing diplomatic ties with it in 1979.
This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.