International leader to visit the islands

There is no end to the leaders from the political realm that visit the islands. Their visits are to see for themselves the state of play and visit military and other relevant installations.

Notable leaders that have visited some of the islands have included presidents of Taiwan.

And now President William Lai Ching-te is planning to stop over in Hawaii and maybe Guam on a visit to Taipei’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific in the coming weeks, various Taiwan and other media are reporting. The Pacific countries of the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau are three of the 12 remaining states that maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taipei.

President Lai Chin-Te, Republic of China-Taiwan.

Lai, who won election in January, has yet to travel overseas since taking office in May.

The island country of 13,826 square miles sits dangerously close to the People’s Republic of China, and through the years presidents have visited friendly nations and island locations to reaffirm relationships.

This is not the first interaction between Taiwan’s incoming president and the U.S.

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers visited Taiwan to meet with the newly inaugurated president, shortly after his inauguration. Taipei is a popular destination for parliamentary delegations, and the city also hosts a variety of conferences annually.

For locations that have diplomatic and other relations with Taiwan, the country nurtures bilateral relations and assists in various ways.

President Tsai Ing-wen visited Guam twice, most recently in November 2017. She also visited the Marshall Islands during her 2017 trip to the region. Then-Gov. Edward B. Calvo visited Taiwan several times and the two islands have exchanged trade missions.

President Ma Ying-Jeou visited Guam, Palau and the Marshall Islands in 2010; and President Chen Shui-bian visited Palau in 2007, according to Journal files. mbj

The presidential office building in Taiwan.

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