High-profile US stopovers signal stronger ties with Taiwan, island’s leader says
- Series of firsts on Tsai’s transits through the United States amount to better treatment but no breakthrough with Washington, observers say
Two high-profile presidential stopovers in the United States reflected a deepening of Taiwan’s ties with the US, the island’s leader said on Monday as she returned from a 12-day trip to four Caribbean allies.
But analysts said there was no breakthrough in the US’ treatment of Taiwan and the island continued to be a pawn in Washington’s game of trade war strategy with Beijing.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen spent four nights in the US – two in New York and two in Denver – on her way to and from the Caribbean.
While in New York, Tsai attended a reception at Taiwan’s de facto consulate for a group of United Nations permanent representatives, most of them envoys from nations with which Taiwan still has diplomatic ties.
It was the first event of its kind in four decades and – also unusually – open to US media. Washington – which switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei in 1979 – previously prohibited Taiwan’s leaders from making public appearances during transits in the US.
American authorities also allowed Tsai to brief journalists on her trip during her stopover in Denver. In the past, leaders from Taiwan have not been allowed to host press conferences or media receptions on US soil due to concerns from Beijing, which protested strongly against Washington’s high-profile transit treatment for Tsai.