President Donald Trump reportedly denied Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te a visit to the U.S. as Washington participates in trade talks with the People’s Republic of China, Financial Times reported Monday.
The Taiwanese president was reportedly set to stop in New York City on his way to upcoming diplomatic meetings in Paraguay, Guatemala and Belize, but was turned away by the Trump administration at the request of China, three people familiar with the decision told Financial Times. China and the U.S. are currently engaged in trade negotiations in Stockholm, Sweden, in an effort to avert a prolonged trade war between the two powers.
Lai reportedly approached the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank, to host an event in New York with him at the helm, one source told Financial Times. He also reportedly planned to visit Dallas during his U.S. sojourn.
Lai then cancelled his visits altogether upon learning of the denial, according to the Financial Times. However, one senior U.S. official told Financial Times that both sides were “working to remedy the situation” and that nothing had been cancelled.
Trump has been pushing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, but has denied that he was seeking a summit with the Chinese leader.
“Trump wants to avoid irritating Beijing while U.S.-China negotiations are ongoing and planning gets under way for a possible summit with Xi Jinping,” Bonnie Glaser, a China and Taiwan expert at the German Marshall Fund, told Financial Times. China has long desired to fully annex Taiwan, while taking any implicit or explicit acknowledgement of its sovereignty as a diplomatic slight.
China’s stranglehold on rare earth elements has reportedly given the Trump administration pause in taking tough actions against China, according to the Financial Times. The elements are critical to manufacture advanced chips and parts for other electronic goods.
The White House and the Taiwanese Ministry of Digital Affairs did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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