Congressmen urge Blinken not to impose conditions on Lai's potential U.S. stopover

Washington, Nov. 22 (CNA) Five Republican members of the United States House of Representatives have called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to not impose conditions on Taiwan President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) should he make a stopover in the U.S. territory during his trip to the South Pacific.

In their letter addressed to Blinken on Friday (Washington time), the five representatives also urged President Joe Biden to "consider meeting personally with Mr. Lai during his visit."

The letter was signed by Representatives Tom Tiffany, Andy Ogles, Chris Smith, Scott Perry and Lance Gooden, about a week before Lai is scheduled to make his first official overseas visit after taking office on May 20.

Lai will travel to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau between Nov. 30 and Dec. 6 (Taipei time), but as of now, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had declined to confirm if the president and his delegation would stop over in the U.S. territory.

Plans for the president's transit during the South Pacific trip "are still being finalized," Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) told a news conference in Taipei on Friday, adding that the government will make an announcement "at an appropriate time."

In their letter, the five representatives said Blinken should "refrain from imposing arbitrary conditions" on Lai should he make a transit in the U.S., such as restricting his interactions with journalists or limiting his ability to conduct public engagements.

No American law concerning U.S.-Taiwan ties "call for prohibitions or limitations on visits by high-ranking Taiwanese officials, including their duly elected president," they said.

They also criticized Beijing's calls on Washington to block a potential stopover by Lai in the U.S. as "outrageous and unacceptable," noting that such interference in U.S. internal affairs "should be forcefully and publicly rejected."

They were referring to comments made by Lin Jian (林劍), a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, at a press briefing in mid-November.

Lin said China "consistently opposes the U.S. arrangements of such transits. We urge Washington to ... not allow Lai Ching-te to transit [through the U.S.] and not send wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces."

Despite a lack of formal diplomatic relations, Washington has over the years allowed Taiwanese presidents to make stopovers on U.S. soil during their trips to visit Taiwan's diplomatic allies.

Former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) traveled to the South Pacific twice during her two four-year tenures, in 2017 and 2019. Her 2017 trip included layovers in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Guam, and her 2019 trip included a stopover in Honolulu.