Why Pres. Tsai visited Pacific islands

President Tsai Ing-wen has been on a week-long visit to three of Taiwan’s 17 remaining diplomatic allies – Palau, Nauru and the Marshall Islands – this week. The small Pacific nations are considered crucial to giving Taiwan a voice in international settings such as the United Nations, where it doesn’t have a seat. They are also seen as important in enabling Taiwan to highlight its importance in the region and to strengthen its ties with the United States, especially in face of the worsening relations between the China’s government and Tsai’s administration. At the end of her trip, she stopped over in Hawaii where she made an important speech spelling out Taiwan’s plans to partner with the United States to pursue an Indo-Pacific strategy to counter China’s growing influence in the region. Take a look at what President Tsai did and said during her visit abroad.