China has ‘no reason’ to react to Tsai’s US transits: US security official

2023-03-22

Tensions are rising as President Tsai Ing-wen gears up for two transits in the U.S. during her upcoming Central American tour. The Chinese foreign ministry has blasted the move as a ploy to promote Taiwan independence. The U.S. National Security Council brushed off the accusation, pointing to a history of similar visits by Taiwan’s presidents.

President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday attended the opening ceremony of an international sports expo. In just one week, she’ll be setting off on her first international tour in three years, going on state visits to Guatemala and Belize, two of Taiwan’s Central American allies. She’ll also be making stopovers in New York and Los Angeles, and that’s ruffled feathers in Beijing.

Wang Wenbin
China foreign ministry spokesperson
We strongly oppose any form of official interaction between the U.S. and Taiwan, strongly oppose any U.S. visit by the leader of the Taiwan authorities regardless of the rationale or pretext. China has raised strong objections to the U.S. side on this matter. The reported trip is not so much a “transit,” but an attempt to seek breakthroughs and propagate “Taiwan independence.”

John Kirby
National Security Council
There’s no reason for China to overreact. Heck, there’s no reason for them to react. I mean, this is something that, as I said, is commonplace and has happened before, will likely happen again. It’s personal. It’s unofficial. There should be no reason for Beijing to react in any way to this. Again, business as usual here.

National Security Council official John Kirby said that every single Taiwan president had at some point transited in the U.S., and that Tsai herself had made six U.S. transits since her inauguration in 2016. He stressed that it was not uncommon for Taiwan’s presidents to meet with members of Congress during their stays and that China had no reason to overreact to the transit.

In related news, the American Institute in Taiwan has a new chairwoman, Laura Rosenberger, who was appointed after the retirement of James Moriarty. In a tweet on Tuesday, Rosenberger said, “It’s an honor and privilege to become the new chair of AIT. Looking forward to working closely with our friends in Taiwan to continue to broaden and deepen our close partnership at this important time.” In another tweet, she spoke positively of a meeting with the AIT’s “good friend and partner Hsiao Bi-khim.” Meanwhile, Hsiao tweeted a selfie with the new and former chairs, all three wearing big smiles. With Tsai soon to transit in the U.S., another selfie may be on the horizon, featuring the president with her ambassador and the new AIT chair.

蔡總統上任已過境美國六次美方:中反應過度

2023-03-22

蔡英文總統下週三將出訪中美洲友邦並且過境美國，引發中國再度跳腳，要求停止美台往來，不過白宮國安會官員強調，蔡總統已經過境美國六次，台灣總統過境美國司空見慣，中國沒有理由過度反應。

蔡總統週三出席國際運動健身展開幕。再一個星期，總統要展開睽違三年多的元首出訪行程，訪問中美洲友邦瓜地馬拉和貝里斯，還要過境紐約和洛杉磯，這又讓中國玻璃心碎。

[[中國外交部發言人汪文斌]]
堅決反對台灣當局領導人以任何名義、任何理由竄美。中方已就此向美方提出嚴正交涉，台灣當局領導人過境是假，謀求突破、宣揚台獨是真。

[[白宮國安會戰略溝通協調官柯比]]
“中國沒有理由反應，沒有理由對此反應，正如我所言，這是司空見慣的事，以前就發生過，也可能再發生，這是個人的、非官方的，中國沒有理由對此回應，一切如常。”

美方強調，歷任台灣總統都曾過境美國，而且蔡總統本人從2016年就任總統以來，已經過境美國六次，期間也曾和美國國會議員舉行會晤，認為中國沒理由反應過度。

而就在蔡總統出訪前，AIT主席莫健退休，羅森伯格接任後，發文表示，成為AIT新主席是自己的榮幸，期待在這個重要時刻，和台灣朋友合作，繼續擴大彼此密切的夥伴關係，還說很開心見到好朋友、夥伴蕭美琴。而蕭美琴也在推特秀出自拍照，三人笑得開心，看得出好交情。隨著蔡總統即將再度過境美國，可以預見將出現蔡總統、蕭美琴、羅森伯格三人同框畫面。