President Tsai Ing-wen’s high-profile US visits keep Taiwan in spotlight and send message to Beijing
- China’s response to the current trip has been relatively muted, but past pressure tactics are seen in letters obtained by US Freedom of Information requests
- Over a span of four nights in the US, the Taiwanese leader has met with ambassadors, lawmakers and administration officials
For most international travellers, a stopover is an inconvenience on the way to a destination. For Taiwan, a stopover can be the most important part of the trip.
Far more than changing planes and browsing airport shops, the self-governed island uses presidential stopovers to expand its modest global footprint and resist Beijing’s bid to keep it out of the spotlight and starved of diplomatic recognition.
As Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen wraps up a 12-day visit to the island’s dwindling number of Caribbean allies, her “layovers” in New York last week and Colorado through Saturday represent some of Taiwan’s highest-profile stopovers in memory.
Over a span of four nights in the US, she has met with ambassadors, senators, administration officials, delivered speeches and faced down pro-Beijing protesters – all on the heels of US approval for a US$2 billion arms deal with the island.
“I’d imagine Tsai Ing-wen is as happy as could be,” said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the US-Taiwan Business Council. “It’s been highly successful.”
These presidential stopovers are carefully vetted and choreographed by the US State Department, which at times hasn’t let Taiwanese presidents stray much beyond baggage claim. Their length and scope tend to be a barometer of US-Taiwan relations, which are gaining altitude, and US-China ties, in steep descent amid a year-long trade war, mutual recriminations and growing education, technology and visa irritants.