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VP Lai returns to Taiwan after visits to U.S., Paraguay

ROC Central News Agency

08/18/2023 11:43 AM

Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) returned to Taiwan early Friday morning after a seven-day trip to the United States and Paraguay, which he said was "successfully completed."

Lai, who is the Democratic Progressive Party's 2024 presidential nominee, focused his remarks on his two-day stay in Paraguay when speaking to reporters after arriving at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

According to Lai, Paraguayan President Santiago Peña pledged, both at his inauguration and during their closed-door meeting, that his country would continue to maintain strong ties with Taiwan.

Taipei and Asunción have both agreed that they should continue to strengthen cooperation and work to bring the friendship between their peoples to new heights, with initial plans for new partnerships on electric vehicles, food processing and textiles, Lai said.

He did not elaborate on those plans, however, saying only that Economic Affairs Minister Wang Mei-hua (王美花) would soon travel to Paraguay for further discussions on those issues.

In addition to visiting Paraguay, Lai also stopped in the United States both on the way to Paraguay and on the way back during the Aug. 12-18 trip.

He had a 25-hour layover in New York before heading to Asunción and a shorter stopover in San Francisco before heading home.

Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of Chinese territory, protested the stopovers, even though Washington maintained that allowing Taiwanese presidents and vice-presidents to transit on American soil had been a "routine" practice.

At a press briefing on Tuesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) did not respond to a question on whether the Chinese military was planning large-scale exercises near Taiwan after Lai's trip to America.

Instead, he said Beijing "is closely monitoring the development of the situation" and would take "resolute and forceful measures" to safeguard China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Chinese military announced on the eve of Lai's departure for America that it would conduct three days of drills in the East China Sea.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said Thursday, however, that the Chinese military drills had been "routine training" limited to an area near the coast.

At the same time, local media reported that Lai's reception in the United States had been muted, perhaps to prevent triggering tensions with Beijing, though Lai denied that this was the case.

Unlike past stopovers by Taiwanese presidents or vice-presidents, Lai did not make contact with American officials and lawmakers during his stops in New York and San Francisco, focusing his time more on Taiwanese expatriates.

(By Yeh-chen and Teng Pei-ju)

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