US stopover by Taiwan’s president cancelled; Trump mulls China trip: Report

After Donald Trump’s request to make a stopover in the United States, Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te has reportedly canceled a trip to three allies in Central and South America.

Lai planned to travel to Paraguay, Guatemala, and Belize in the first and final leg of the trip, according to the Financial Times, with stops planned in Dallas and New York on the way.

According to the newspaper, US officials called off the Taiwanese leader’s trip after three people with information contacted the matter, citing US officials who were reportedly opposed to his arrival in New York.

Lai’s office had never officially stated his trip to Latin America, but it claimed on Monday that the president had canceled all international travel to concentrate on US-US tariff negotiations and a cleanup operation following a typhoon in southern Taiwan.

Taiwan’s president is not authorized to travel to the United States, which disapproves its government. However, Taiwanese leaders have frequently contacted senior administration figures outside of Washington, DC via “transit stops” in the US.

While Joe Biden was the US president at the time, Tsai Ing-wen traveled to New York and Los Angeles using a transit stop in 2023.

Following Tsai’s US stop-off, Beijing, which claims democratic Taiwan as a part of its territory, conducted military exercises in the Taiwan Strait to express its anger.

Trump reportedly opted to block Lai’s stopover in response to reports that the US president is considering a trip to China himself, even though he said he doesn’t want a “summit” with Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart.

“The Fake News is reporting that I’m scheduled to attend a “Summit” with Chinese President Xi. I’m not looking for anything, which is incorrect. Trump wrote on Truth Social late on Monday night that he might travel to China, but that invitation only came from President Xi, who has been extended.

Trump may be planning a trip to China during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea, which will take place on October 31 and November 1.

The outcome of US-China’s ongoing trade talks to end Trump’s tariff war, which was launched earlier this year, will determine whether the meeting will occur.