HONOLULU: Taiwan President Lai Ching-te discussed “China’s military threats” towards the island in a call with former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday (Dec 1), his spokeswoman said in Hawaii, Lai’s first stop on a Pacific trip that has enraged Beijing.
Pelosi’s long-standing support for Taiwan has infuriated China, which responded to her visit to Taipei in 2022 with massive military drills around the island.
Lai and Pelosi discussed among other things “China’s military threats toward Taiwan”, presidential spokeswoman Karen Kuo told reporters, describing the 20-minute call between the “long-time friends” as “warm and amicable”.
China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, opposes any international recognition of Taiwan and its claim to be a sovereign state.
Beijing especially bristles at official contact between the island and the United States, which is Taiwan’s most important supporter and biggest arms supplier.
China has already fumed over more US arms sales to the island and Lai’s stopover in Hawaii, where he was welcomed with red carpets, garlands of flowers and “alohas”.
Beijing on Monday called on the US to “stop meddling with Taiwan and interfering in China’s internal affairs, and stop supporting and indulging Taiwan independence separatist forces”.
Foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian was speaking in response to a question about the call at a regular press conference.
Since arriving on Saturday, Lai has met with state Governor Josh Green, members of the US Congress, officials from the de facto US embassy in Taiwan and others.
In his first public speech of the trip, Lai said on Saturday that we have to “fight together to prevent war”, warning there were “no winners” from conflict.
On the eve of his weeklong trip, the United States approved a proposed sale to Taiwan of spare parts for F-16s and radar systems, as well as communications equipment, in deals valued at US$385 million in total.
China’s foreign ministry called on the United States over the weekend to “immediately stop arming Taiwan and stop abetting and supporting ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces”.
“China will take strong and resolute countermeasures to firmly defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity,” it added.
In a separate statement, the foreign ministry said China “strongly condemns” the United States for Lai’s stopover and that it had “lodged serious protests with the US”.
Source: CNA
