(CNN) — Taiwan’s relationship with the United States “has never been closer,” President Tsai Ing-wen said after arriving in New York City on Wednesday, as Beijing warned that her visit could lead to a “serious confrontation” between China and the United States.
Taiwan faced “enormous challenges,” Tsai said from the city, where she is making the first of two planned stops on both coasts of the United States, ahead of an official visit to Central America.
“We know we are stronger when we stand together in solidarity with other democracies. Taiwan cannot be isolated and we don’t take friendship for granted,” Tsai said at a banquet with members of the Taiwanese-American community, according to footage from CNN affiliate SET TV in Taiwan.
Tsai’s visit comes at a time of heightened tension between the US and China and has already drawn strong condemnation from Beijing, which claims democratic Taiwan as its territory, even though it has never controlled it.
Tsai’s transit into the United States could lead to a “serious” confrontation in the US-China relationship and have a “severe impact” on their ties, China’s charge d’affaires Xu Xueyuan told reporters in Washington on Wednesday. .
“What the United States has done seriously undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Xu said, adding that the United States should bear “all consequences.”
Tsai’s travels have come under particular scrutiny following reports that she will meet US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during one of his unofficial stops in the US, an event potential that Beijing has vowed to “resolutely fight” if it goes ahead.
Taiwan has not confirmed the meeting or provided details of Tsai’s itinerary while in the US.
Beijing launched extensive, days-long military exercises around the island last August, following a visit to Taipei by then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi was the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, and the trip prompted accusations from Beijing that the US was changing the nature of its relationship with Taiwan, a claim US officials have repeatedly refuted.
Supporters gather as Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen arrives at the Lotte Hotel in Manhattan in New York City on March 29, 2023. (Credit: Jeenah Moon/Reuters)
The arrival in the United States of the president of Taiwan
Tsai said via Facebook on Wednesday that her delegation was received by Laura Rosenberger, president of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the organization that conducts unofficial US relations with Taiwan. Rosenberger and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy made remarks at Tsai’s welcoming banquet Wednesday night.
Speaking at the event, Tsai thanked the US government for “honoring its security commitments to Taiwan” and noted congressional support for Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, as well as the administration’s arms sales. Biden to Taiwan.
The United States is required by law to sell weapons to Taiwan for its self-defense, although it ended its formal diplomatic relationship with Taipei in 1979 when it recognized the government in Beijing.
Due to the unofficial relationship the US has with Taiwan, the Tsai transit is not characterized as an official visit to keep the US within the long-standing “One China” policy.
Under the “One China” policy, the US acknowledges China’s position that Taiwan is part of China, but has never officially recognized Beijing’s claim to the island of 23 million people.
US officials have tried to dismiss their stops as nothing unusual and urged Beijing not to use them as an excuse to carry out “aggressive or coercive activities” directed at Taiwan.
Tsai had previously transited the US six times while he was president, according to US officials.
On Wednesday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby emphasized that such transits were “private” and “unofficial.”
“The PRC must not use this transit as a pretext to intensify any aggressive activity around the Taiwan Strait. The United States and China have differences when it comes to Taiwan, but we have managed those differences for more than 40 years,” Kirby said.
In the weeks leading up to Tsai’s visit, however, Beijing issued multiple condemnations and said it was reaching out to US counterparts regarding reports of a possible meeting with McCarthy, even as such a meeting on US soil could be seen as less provocative than a visit to Taiwan by a top US lawmaker.
Frictions between China and the US over the future of the democratic island have intensified in recent years.
Beijing has vowed to seize the island, by force if necessary, and under Xi Jinping’s leadership it has increased military, diplomatic and economic pressure on democracy, even tempting Taipei’s allies to switch allegiances.
“External Pressure”
Tsai’s transit through the United States is part of a broader international trip that includes state visits to two of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, Guatemala and Belize, before transiting through Los Angeles for her return to Taiwan on April 7.
In remarks before her departure, Tsai said that “external pressure” would not prevent Taiwan from “moving into international society.”
Guatemala and Belize are part of a handful of nations that maintain diplomatic relations with Taipei.
That number dropped to 13 over the weekend as Honduras formally established diplomatic ties with China and severed them with Taiwan.
Beijing does not have diplomatic relations with countries that recognize Taipei.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro will visit China “soon” to sign “auspicious agreements,” her foreign ministry said in a tweet on Wednesday, without specifying a date.
— CNN’s Jennifer Hansler in Washington, Gladys Tsai in Taiwan, Michael Rios in Atlanta and INS’s Dhruv Tikekar in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
