Taiwan’s president visits East-West think tank as China criticizes his 2-day visit to Hawaii

Taiwan’s president visited a U.S. State Department-funded think tank and educational institution Sunday on the second day of a two-day visit to Hawaii that’s part of a Pacific island tour that has already triggered criticism from Beijing.

Lai Ching-te met and exchanged gifts with the president of the East-West Center, which is on the University of Hawaii’s flagship Manoa campus. He spoke to an audience at the center but journalists were escorted out of a conference hall before he began speaking.