U.S. reiterates position that Lai visit plan not canceled

Washington, July 29 (CNA) The United States State Department on Tuesday dismissed speculation that a planned trip to South America with stopovers in the U.S. by President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) was canceled, saying there were no plans and therefore nothing was canceled.

Speaking at a news briefing, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Lai's travel plans were "hypothetical" because they were never announced by Taiwan.

"There have been no plans -- travel plans for the president. There's been, as a result, nothing canceled," Bruce said.

Her remarks came after the Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Lai's planned visits to diplomatic allies Paraguay, Guatemala, and Belize in August were delayed or canceled as U.S. President Donald Trump blocked a stopover in New York due to protests from China.

Citing three unnamed sources for the report, the Financial Times said Trump was concerned that Lai's trip would affect ongoing trade talks between the two powers.

"I can tell you, though, a reiteration that transits by high level Taiwan officials, including presidents, are fully consistent with our longstanding policy and practice," Bruce said. "This has not changed."

News of Lai's possible trip was first reported in mid-July. An AFP report on July 14 cited Paraguay President Santiago Pena as saying at an investment forum that day that Lai would visit his country "in 30 days."

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.

In a statement Monday on Lai's rumored trip, Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said Lai had no plans to make an overseas visit in the near future

"In consideration of the ongoing rehabilitation efforts in southern Taiwan following a recent typhoon and regional developments including the United States' tariffs, the president currently has no plans to go on an overseas visit," Kuo said.

On Tuesday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesperson Hsiao Kuangwei (蕭光偉) reiterated that Lai had no overseas travel plan in the near future.

Nancy Pelosi, former U.S. House Speaker, said on her Facebook page on Monday that if the report about Trump's denial of Lai's stopover were true, it showed the administration could be bullied by China into silence when it came to Taiwan.

"For decades, members in the House and Senate of both parties have upheld a bipartisan commitment to supporting Taiwan's democracy, in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act," Pelosi said.

"Our relationship with Taiwan is in the interest of global and regional security, in the interest of our economy by enabling commerce through the Taiwan Strait and in our moral interest by supporting democracy over autocracy," she said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who just wrapped up a new round of two-day trade talks with China in Stockholm on Tuesday, told CNBC that the travel plans of Taiwan's president had nothing to do with the Washington-Beijing negotiations.

"We are very careful to keep trade and national security separate," Bessent claimed.