Taiwan’s president began a weeklong journey Saturday, and China is not happy about it.
Tsai Ing-wen’s trip has her visiting three Pacific Island allies — Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands — via Honolulu and the U.S. territory of Guam.
China claims sovereignty over democratic, self-ruled Taiwan and believes Tsai is seeking formal independence from China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Washington should not allow Tsai to stop in the U.S. to” avoid sending any erroneous messages to the Taiwan independence force…”
Tsai has said she wants to maintain peace with China, but will defend Taiwan’s democracy and security.
The U.S. State Department said last week that Tsai’s transitions through U.S. locations would be “private and unofficial.”
China has claimed sovereignty over the island since 1949, when Mao Zedong’s Communist forces won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists fled to Taiwan.
China Objects to Taiwan President’s Visits to US
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, third from left, while en route to Pacific island allies, stands with delegates and National Park Service members at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii, Oct. 28, 2017.