Vice President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming transit through the US is being facilitated with consideration for the “safety, comfort, convenience and dignity” of his delegation, a US Department of State spokesperson said on Thursday.
“The United States facilitates, from time to time, Taiwan authorities to transit the United States,” the official said in an e-mail. “Such transits are undertaken with consideration for the safety, comfort, convenience and dignity of the passenger and are in keeping with our one China policy.”
Lai is to transit through California and hold talks with US officials while en route to and from a visit to Honduras next week, the Presidential Office said.
Photo: Chen Yi-tung, Taipei Times
Lai is to attend the inauguration of Honduran president-elect Xiomara Castro.
He is to depart from Taiwan on Tuesday and arrive the next day in Los Angeles, before traveling to the Central American nation on Thursday.
After wrapping up his visit in Honduras on Saturday next week, Lai would stop over in San Francisco before returning to Taiwan the next day.
American Institute in Taiwan Chairman James Moriarty is to greet Lai in California, the US official said.
The Taiwan and US governments agreed that the vice president did not need to obtain an additional COVID-19 vaccine to enter the country, the Presidential Office said.
The US requires visitors to be fully vaccinated against the disease with an approved vaccine. Lai has received three shots of the Taiwan-made Medigen vaccine, which is not yet on the US list of accepted COVID-19 vaccines.
Lai is expected to interact with foreign dignitaries at the inauguration, including US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is to lead her country’s delegation at the event, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry on Thursday wrote to Harris urging her to meet Lai “in an official and public capacity” during her visit to Honduras.
They said that it is important for the US to demonstrate its shared commitment to deepening Washington’s economic and security cooperation with Taipei as Beijing steps up its “checkbook diplomacy” worldwide and military provocations in the Taiwan Strait.
“A bilateral meeting with Vice President Lai in Honduras would also help Taiwan cement its remaining diplomatic partnerships in Latin America by sending a clear message that increasing Chinese influence in the region is unwelcome,” they said.
They added that that the US 2018 Taiwan Travel Act was passed with support from Harris, who was then a US senator. The act seeks to encourage high-level meetings between senior Taiwanese and US officials, including presidents and vice presidents.
“You now have an opportunity to build on that historic progress by meeting face-to-face with your Taiwanese counterpart,” they said.
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