Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te arrived in the Marshall Islands on Tuesday for the second leg, after Hawaii, of a tour of the Pacific which has aroused the anger of Beijing.
Mr. Lai is coming out of a two-day stopover in this American state, from where he spoke on the telephone with former Speaker of the American House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi about “Chinese military threats” towards Taiwan.
He also met with government officials and members of the United States Congress.
China considers that Taiwan is one of its provinces, which it has not yet succeeded in reunifying with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. It does not exclude the use of strength to achieve this.
Beijing thus opposes any official contact between Taipei and foreign countries and “strongly” condemned Lai Ching-te's tour, urging the United States to “stop meddling in Taiwan”.
In Majuro, capital of the Marshall Islands, the Taiwanese president was welcomed by his counterpart Hilda Heine.
“Taiwan and the Marshall Islands share a common Austronesian culture as well as values of freedom and democracy,” Mr. Lai said.
– “Preferential loan” –
The Marshall Islands are one of three Taiwan allies in the Pacific among the last 12 countries to recognize Taipei. Some former supporters have switched to Beijing's side, particularly after promises of aid and investment.
In a speech to the Marshall Islands Parliament, Lai Ching-te announced that Taiwan would grant a “preferential loan” to the national airline Air Marshall Islands to enable it to purchase new aircraft.
Taipei will also contribute to the construction of a pig slaughterhouse in 2025 in order to strengthen “food security” in the Marshall Islands, said the Taiwanese president.
He thanked the President of the Marshall Islands for “personally speaking out in defense of Taiwan this year at the Pacific Islands Forum, the United Nations General Assembly and COP 29.”
He must then visit his two other regional supporters, Tuvalu and Palau.
In addition, the president must stop for a night on the island of Guam, an unincorporated territory of the United States.
Although Washington has recognized Beijing to the detriment of Taipei since 1979, it remains Taiwan's most powerful ally and its main donor and arms supplier.
Beijing expressed its “firm opposition” and “deplored” Washington’s approval of a new arms sale project to Taipei, worth $385 million (364 million euros).
China accuses Mr. Lai, like his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen, of wanting to deepen cultural separation with the continent, denouncing “separatist” actions.
