Taiwan foreign ministry denies Financial Times report on Lai's trip

Taipei, July 29 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) currently has no plans to travel overseas, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesperson Hsiao Kuangwei (蕭光偉) said Tuesday, denying media reports that Lai's planned trip to Paraguay through New York was blocked by the United States.

At a routine MOFA press briefing, Hsiao denied a Financial Times report that said Lai's planned visits to diplomatic allies Paraguay, Guatemala, and Belize were delayed or cancelled due to U.S. President Donald Trump blocking a stopover in New York following protests from China.

According to the Financial Times, which cited three anonymous sources for its story, Trump was concerned that Lai's trip would affect ongoing trade talks between the two powers.

Hsiao countered that Lai did not have any overseas travel arrangements at the moment because of ongoing recovery efforts in southern Taiwan following Typhoon Danas and international developments such as tariff negotiations with the United States.

Any finalized overseas itinerary would be announced by the Presidential Office in line with usual procedures, the spokesperson said.

Hsiao's statement was nearly identical to that made Monday night by Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) as Lai's Democratic Progressive Party government responded to questions about a trip that had reportedly been planned but not yet formally announced.

An AFP report on July 14 cited Paraguay President Santiago Pena as saying at an investment forum that day that Lai will visit his country "in 30 days."

At the time Pena made the comment, he was hosting a delegation comprising around 30 business leaders and Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in Asuncion, according to the report.

Bloomberg News reported two days later that Lai was planning to stop in New York on Aug. 4 and then Dallas 10 days later as part of a trip to diplomatic allies Paraguay, Guatemala and Belize.

A Bloomberg report on Monday, however, said planning for the trip was thrown into flux late last week when Taiwan could not get the U.S. to give the green light.

Like the Financial Times, the Bloomberg report also cited the Trump administration's concern Lai's stopovers in the U.S. could derail trade talks with China.

Meanwhile, the American Institute in Taiwan responded to a CNA inquiry on the matter that it could not comment on hypothetical questions, as Taiwan had not announced the president's visit.

Also Tuesday, the U.S. State Department said its policies for stopovers by Taiwanese leaders have not changed.