The Taiwanese president, Lai Ching-te, has begun a two-day US stopover in Hawaii as part of a Pacific tour after declaring his democratically governed island a key force for promoting global peace and stability.
The trip has sparked fury from China, which views Taiwan as its own territory and opposes any foreign interactions or visits by the island’s leaders. China’s foreign ministry said on Sunday it had lodged “serious protests” with the US.
China has been stepping up military pressure against Taiwan, including two rounds of war games this year, and security sources have told Reuters that Beijing may hold more military exercises to coincide with Lai’s tour, which also includes a stopover in Guam, a US territory.
It is Lai’s first foreign trip since taking office in May. After Hawaii, he will go to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, three of the 12 countries that retain formal diplomatic ties with Taipei and a part of the world where China has been exerting stronger influence.
Speaking to reporters before his departure, Lai said: “Thank you to the US government for upholding the principles of safety, dignity, comfort and convenience for helping the smooth process of this trip.”
Hawaii’s governor, Josh Green, said in a statement after he, the mayor of Honolulu and the city’s police chief greeted Lai on the tarmac of Honolulu airport on Saturday and that the meeting was a “momentous occasion”, highlighting Hawaii’s shared values of resilience and collaboration with Taiwan.
Green later hosted Lai for an emergency management briefing to discuss handling natural disasters, he added.
Hawaii governor Josh Green, second left, greets Lai Ching-te on the Taiwanese president’s arrival in Honolulu on Saturday. Photograph: Office of Hawaii Governor/Reuters
Ingrid Larson, the Washington office managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the body that serves as the unofficial US embassy in Taiwan, was also at the airport to welcome Lai. Laura Rosenberger, chair of the institute, posted on X that “Ingrid Larson and the great community of Hawaii are excited to greet you!”
Taiwan’s official Central News Agency said the welcome exceeded those of past visits.
“President Lai’s transit was the first time that he was received at the airport, and a red carpet was rolled and flowers were presented, which was the highest level of courtesy ever, different from the past mode of entry into the terminal, and the level of the reception also exceeded previous norms,” CNA said.
Asked about this, a spokesperson for the US State Department said: “The transit is private and unofficial and squarely within precedent.”
Later on Saturday, Lai was to visit the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbour, which marks the resting place of some of those killed during the 1941 Japanese attack that brought the US into the second world war, CNA said.
Hawaii and Guam are home to major US military bases.
China also vowed “resolute countermeasures” on Sunday to a recently approved US arms sale to Taiwan, saying it had lodged a complaint over the sale, which it said seriously infringed on China’s sovereignty.
The US State Department approved the potential sale – worth an estimated $385m – of spare parts and support for F-16 jets and radars to Taiwan, the Pentagon said on Friday, a few hours before Lai set off from Taiwan.
The Taiwanese leader’s trip comes as the Republican US president-elect, Donald Trump, prepares to take office in January. Taipei publicly congratulated him on his victory. During his campaign, Trump suggested Taiwan should pay the US for its defence.
Taiwanese presidents often make use of what are officially only stopovers in the US to meet friendly US politicians and give speeches. Such stopovers are typically on visits to far-flung allies in the Pacific, Latin America or the Caribbean.
“This trip is the beginning of a new era of value-based diplomacy,” Lai said. “Democracy, prosperity and peace are the expectations of the people of Taiwan, and they are also the values that I, as president, must actively promote.”
The US has only unofficial relations with Taiwan and follows a “one-China” policy under which it recognises Beijing diplomatically, but the US government is obliged by law to supply the island with the means to defend itself.
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says it has a right to engage with the world and for its leaders to travel abroad.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse
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