Taiwan Vice President William Lai arrived in New York on Saturday at the start of a sensitive U.S. stopover, which China has condemned and Taiwanese officials fear could prompt more Chinese military activity around the democratically governed island.
Lai, the front-runner to become Taiwan’s president in elections in January, is officially making only transit stops in the United States on his way to and from Paraguay for the swearing in of its president next week.
Lai said that he had arrived in New York, on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Happy to arrive at the #BigApple, icon of liberty, democracy & opportunities,” Lai posted.
“Looking forward to seeing friends & attending transit programs in #NewYork.”
The China Airlines flight Lai took from Taipei landed at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport shortly after 8:15 p.m. local time (0015 GMT), according to flight tracking app Flightradar24.
Neither Taiwan nor the U.S. have given exact details about his U.S. schedule, which both are aiming to keep low key, according to officials briefed on the trip.
Laura Rosenberger, chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a U.S. government-run non-profit that carries out unofficial relations with Taiwan, said on X that she would meet Lai in San Francisco.
Taipei and Washington call U.S. stopovers by Taiwanese officials routine and no cause for China to take “provocative” actions, but Beijing has reacted with anger at what it sees as a further sign of U.S. support for Taiwan, which it claims as its own.
China is likely to launch military drills next week near Taiwan, using Lai’s U.S. stopovers as a pretext to intimidate voters ahead of a next year’s election and make them “fear war,” Taiwanese officials say.
Lai, speaking to reporters before leaving Taiwan, made only fleeting mention of the U.S. part of his trip, simply noting he was going to New York first.
Lai’s U.S. stopover will be the 11th by a Taiwanese vice president, according to the State Department, which calls them routine but “private and unofficial.”
Washington does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but is its most important international source of weapons, and the island’s contested status is a constant source of friction with Beijing.
Paraguay is one of the few remaining countries in the world that retains formal ties with Taiwan.
Lai has made one prior U.S. transit as Taiwan’s vice president, in January 2022 on a trip to Honduras, a then-ally of the island that switched its diplomatic recognition to Beijing in early 2023.
Lai said he would use the Paraguay visit not only to deepen ties with that country but also to have “self-confident” exchanges with other countries and meet with delegations from like-minded partners. He did not say who.