dpa
Taipei
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen departed Taipei on Wednesday for a 10-day trip to diplomatic allies Guatemala and Belize, with stopovers planned in the US on the way there and on the way back.
“The trip is aimed at showing our determination to deepen exchanges and cooperation with diplomatic allies,” Tsai said at Taoyuan International Airport.
“External pressure won’t compromise our determination” to keep in touch with the world, Tsai said, referring to growing diplomatic pressure from China.
Beijing regards the self-governing, democratic island as a renegade province.
Since Tsai took office in 2016, nine former Taiwan allies have switched sides and established ties with China, the most recent being Honduras on Sunday.
Tsai’s delegation will first make a stopover in New York City before arriving in Guatemala late on March 31. On the way back, Tsai will stop in Los Angeles.
China last week protested to the US over the stopovers by Tsai. The US responded only that Taiwan’s planned stopovers follow recent precedent.
Last week, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry declined to confirm media reports suggesting Tsai would receive an award from the Washington-based Hudson Institute in New York. Media reports also suggested that Tsai would meet US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California and give a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
