Mr. Lai landed shortly before 7:30 a.m. local time (5:30 p.m. GMT) in Honolulu, according to an AFP journalist accompanying the president on his first trip abroad since taking office in May.
He was welcomed by Hawaii Governor Josh Green and Ingrid Larson, the Washington director of the American representation in Taipei (American Institute in Taiwan).
“This is the first time that the (Taiwanese) head of state has been welcomed on the tarmac, given the red carpet and given flowers” during a visit to Hawaii, the office said. of the president in a press release.
China considers the island of Taiwan as one of its provinces to be reunited with the rest of its territory and does not rule out using force to achieve this.
She is angered by the tour, during which President Lai is due to visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, the only nations in the region among the 12 remaining allies to recognize Taiwan.
The Taiwanese president must notably spend two nights in Hawaii and one in Guam, in American territory, to meet “old friends” and “members of think tanks”, a source at the presidency under the presidency told AFP. covered by anonymity.
In a speech before takeoff, Mr. Lai said his tour marked the beginning of “a new democratic era” and thanked the U.S. government for “facilitating this journey.”
The leader said he wanted to “advance cooperation and deepen partnerships with our allies, based on the values of democracy, peace and prosperity.”
Taiwan deployed four F-16 fighter jets to escort the plane carrying the Taiwanese president and his delegation.
During the flight, Mr. Lai thanked everyone on board for “traveling together to open Taiwan's international horizon”, saying that his tour should “enable Taiwan to join the international scene, with seriousness and confidence “.
Beijing opposes any official contact between Taipei and foreign representatives. More broadly, China seeks to erase it from the international scene by preventing it from participating in international forums and pressuring companies to designate Taiwan as a “Chinese province” on their websites.
Beijing has repeatedly called Lai Ching-te a “separatist” and increased military pressure around the island in recent years with numerous maneuvers.
– “Partnership” with the United States –
Taiwanese officials have already stopped on American soil during trips to the Pacific or Latin America.
Lai Ching-te's predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, passed through these same American territories in 2017.
In 2023, she met Kevin McCarthy, then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, in California. Beijing then responded with major military exercises around Taiwan.
China “always wants to give the impression that Taiwan is isolated and dependent” on it, said Bonnie Glaser, an analyst at the German Marshall Fund think tank, to AFP.
“When a Taiwanese president travels outside Taiwan, it is a reminder that there are countries in the world that value their relations with Taiwan,” she adds, emphasizing the major role of the island in the semiconductor industry.
“And, of course, when it passes through the United States, it's a reminder… that the United States and Taiwan have a close partnership.”
Washington has recognized Beijing to the detriment of Taipei since 1979 but remains in fact Taiwan's most powerful ally and its main arms supplier.
The United States also announced on Friday that it had approved the potential sale of spare parts for F-16 fighter jets and radar systems to Taiwan, for an amount estimated at $320 million.
On Friday, the day after Mr. Lai's route was announced, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it had detected 33 planes and eight Chinese warships in its airspace and waters in 24 hours. This was the largest deployment in the previous three weeks.
