washington [US]BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) — Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen will visit New York and Southern California at the end of this month amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington, according to the Washington Post, citing a spokesman for Taiwan’s presidential office.
Tsai will travel from March 29 to April 7, passing through New York before continuing on to Guatemala, Belize and Los Angeles on the way back, the spokesman said.
The schedule for meetings between Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. government representatives, including U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, was unclear.
Tsai’s visit comes after former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou announced a historic visit to mainland China next week. Ma is the leader of the opposition KMT, or Kuomintang, which advocates closer ties with Beijing.
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Tsai Ing-wen will be visiting the country for the seventh time since taking office in 2016.
However, a Chinese foreign ministry official said Beijing “resolutely opposes any form of official interaction” between the United States and the Taiwan region, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
Taiwan has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, but Beijing claims the island as part of its territory and seeks “peaceful reunification” with the island.
It is worth noting that tensions between China and Taiwan began to emerge after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last August.
China objected to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, which China claims is part of its territory. After Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China announced military exercises around Taiwan. (Arnie)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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