WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says expected stopovers in the United States by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen would conform to recent precedent and should not be used as an excuse by China to ramp up aggressive activities across the Taiwan Strait.
In recent weeks, senior US officials in Washington and Beijing have stressed to their Chinese counterparts that transit visits through the United States have been routine during the Taiwanese president’s broader international trips over the years, according to a senior administration official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
On such unofficial visits in recent years, Tsai has met with members of Congress and the Taiwanese diaspora, and was greeted by the chair of the American Institute in Taiwan, the US government-run nonprofit organization that has unofficial ties with Taiwan. The official added that the expected stopover was “nothing new” and consistent with long-standing US policy.
Taiwan’s office of the president confirmed on Tuesday that Tsai is expected to tour New York on March 30 before heading to Guatemala and Belize. She is expected to stop in Los Angeles on April 5 on her way back to Taiwan. The bureau did not provide details of her itinerary while in the United States
Tsai transited the United States six times between 2016 and 2019 before slowing international travel with the coronavirus pandemic. In response to these visits, China rhetorically proposed against the US and Taiwan.
The Biden administration is trying to avoid a repeat of China’s heavy-handed response following then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last year.
Following Pelosi’s visit in August, Beijing launched missiles over Taiwan, deployed warships across the Taiwan Strait midline, and conducted military exercises near the island. Beijing also suspended climate talks with the US and restricted military-to-military communications with the Pentagon.
Beijing sees official American contact with Taiwan as encouragement to make the island’s decades-old de facto independence permanent, a move US leaders say they do not support. Pelosi, D-Calif., has been the senior American elected official to visit the island since Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997. Under the “One China” policy, the US recognizes Beijing as the government of China and has no diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but has maintained that Taipei is a key partner in the Indo-Pacific.
US officials are increasingly concerned about China’s long-proclaimed goal of uniting Taiwan with the mainland and the possibility of a war over Taiwan. The island’s self-governing democracy is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory. The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which governs US relations with the island, does not require US military intervention if China invades, but makes it American policy to ensure Taiwan has the resources to defend itself and to prevent a unilateral change of status Beijing.
The troubled relationship between the US and China has become even more complicated since Pelosi’s visit.
Last month, President Joe Biden ordered a Chinese spy balloon shot out of the sky after crossing the continental United States. And the Biden administration has said in recent weeks that US intelligence findings show China is considering sending arms to Russia for its ongoing war in Ukraine, but there is no evidence Beijing has decided continue to supply Moscow.
The Biden administration has postponed a planned visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing in the wake of the balloon controversy, but has signaled it would like to get such a visit back on track.
The White House also said Monday officials are in talks with China over possible visits by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo that will focus on economic matters. Biden also said he expects to hold talks with China’s Xi Jinping soon.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said there was still value in “keeping those lines of communication open.”
Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi met in Moscow on Monday, the first face-to-face meeting between the allies since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago.
The Taiwanese government said earlier this month that Tsai was planning stopovers in New York and Southern California during an upcoming major international trip.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said he would meet with Tsai when she was in the US and did not rule out the possibility of a trip to Taiwan to show her support.
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Taipei-based AP journalist Johnson Lai contributed to the coverage.
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This story has been corrected to show that China acted against the US, not against China.