Trump Administration Told Taiwan’s President to Avoid New York Stopover

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/world/asia/trump-taiwan-china.html

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President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan had planned to make brief stops in New York and Dallas next month, en route to and from Latin America, hoping to demonstrate the island’s strong ties with the United States in defiance of China.

But the Trump administration, which is focused on delicate talks with Beijing over trade and a possible summit, told Mr. Lai to cancel his proposed stopover in New York, according to two officials familiar with the plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions between the two governments. Mr. Lai canceled his whole trip.

The hints of tension between Taipei and Washington come at a sensitive moment for Mr. Lai. He suffered a serious setback over the weekend when a sweeping recall campaign aimed at removing 24 opposition lawmakers failed to dislodge any of them. Taiwan is also among the economies facing a Friday deadline for tariff negotiations with the United States.

Mr. Trump’s desire for steady relations with China, and potentially to secure a summit with President Xi Jinping, may have influenced his administration’s position on Mr. Lai’s travel plans. Mr. Trump has said he is open to visiting China to meet with Mr. Xi.

Confirmation of Mr. Lai’s travels would have riled China, which held trade negotiations with Mr. Trump’s team in Stockholm this week. China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and sees the United States’ support for Taiwan as meddling in a domestic issue. Beijing routinely objects to Taiwanese leaders’ visits abroad, particularly to the United States.

Matthew Pottinger, who was the longest-serving deputy national security adviser in the first Trump administration, criticized the apparent decision by American officials to “bend over backwards” in the face of Chinese objections to transit stops by the Taiwanese leader. He noted that such visits were common during the first Trump term — he himself had met with the Taiwanese president on a visit to New York — and during the Biden administration.