Headline Roundup • December 2nd, 2024
Taiwan's President Visits US, Drawing China's Condemnation
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te spent two days in Hawaii meeting with U.S. elected officials and attending events. China condemned the visit.
The Details: Lai participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at a memorial to the Pearl Harbor attacks, visited an international relations think tank, discussed disaster preparedness with Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, and mingled with Hawaii's congressional delegation. Lai also spoke with the former house speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), over the phone on Sunday. The pair reportedly discussed resolving a diplomatic issue that causes double taxation of Taiwanese residents by the U.S.
For Context: China considers Taiwan part of its territory, and the U.S. does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation to avoid military escalation. Thus, Lai's time on U.S. soil was not oficially considered a diplomatic trip, but a "stopover" as he toured Pacific island nations.
Key Quotes:
- "Peace is priceless and war has no winner," said Lai in a speech at a memorial to the Pearl Harbor attack. "We have to fight - fight together - to prevent war."
- China's Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement, "We are firmly opposed to official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan, and we are firmly opposed to the 'transit' of leaders of the Taiwan region to the United States under any name and for any reason."
How the Media Covered It: Reuters (Center bias) said its sources believed China would "launch a new round of war games around Taiwan in response to [Lai's] visit." Associated Press (Left) noted that President-elect Donald Trump, in a July interview, said Taiwan should pay for its defense and didn't commit to defending it from military action by China. Washington Examiner (Lean Right) noted the U.S. State Department recently approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets and other military equipment to Taiwan. Wall Street Journal (Center) interpreted Lai's remarks during the visit as signals "that Taipei hopes to enjoy the same support from the incoming Trump administration that it has enjoyed from President Biden."
Featured Coverage of this Story
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) took a phone call from Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on Sunday, and they reportedly discussed lowering taxes on the island’s residents.
Lai stopped in Hawaii this weekend on his way to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, and Palau, three countries that have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. His warm welcome to the United States by Gov. Josh Green (D-HI) and Reps. Ed Case (D-HI) and Jill Tokuda (D-HI) were “strongly condemned” by Beijing. Pelosi, however, was phoned as an “old friend” to Lai from her 2022 visit to Taiwan.
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.
Office of Hawaii Governor/Handout via REUTERS
War has no winners and peace is priceless, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Saturday in Hawaii after visiting a memorial to the attack on Pearl Harbor on a trip to the United States that has angered Beijing.
Lai is making a sensitive two-day trip to Hawaii that is officially only a stopover on the way to three Pacific island nations that maintain formal ties with Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.
AllSides Picks
Headline Roundup
Rubio's Iran Testimony to House Committee Draws Divided Media Coverage
June 5th, 2026
Red Blue Translator
Isolationism
Red Blue Translator
