Taiwan and the United States both say the stopovers are routine, but China has denounced them and called Lai a separatist 'troublemaker.'
A supporter of the main opposition Kuomintang waves a Taiwanese flag during a rally outside the KMT headquarters ahead of the party's expected announcement of their 2024 presidential candidate in Taipei on May 17, 2023.Taiwan will not be afraid nor back down in the face of authoritarian threats, the island's vice president told supporters on a U.S. visit that Beijing has condemned, while reiterating a willingness to talk to China.
William Lai, also frontrunner to be Taiwan's next president at January elections, is in the United States on what is officially a transit stop on his way to Paraguay for the inauguration of its new president. Paraguay is one of only 13 countries to maintain formal ties with the Chinese-claimed island.
Taiwan and the United States both say the stopovers, including one in San Francisco on the way back, are routine, but China hasLai told a supporters lunch in New York on Sunday that "if Taiwan is safe, the world is safe, if the Taiwan Strait is peaceful, then the world is peaceful," according to Taiwan's presidential office.
"No matter how great the threat of authoritarianism is to Taiwan, we absolutely will not be scared nor cower, we will uphold the values of democracy and freedom," he said.
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