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Taiwan President Lai Ching-te on Thursday called on like-minded governments to “safeguard democracy” during a visit to US territory Guam, his second stop on American soil in a Pacific tour that has angered Beijing.
Lai’s week-long trip is aimed at shoring up international support for Taiwan as China maintains military pressure on the island and seeks to isolate it by poaching its few remaining allies and blocking it from global forums.
Taiwan calls itself a sovereign nation, but Beijing insists the democratic island is part of its territory and opposes any official exchanges with it.
Lai arrived in Guam on Wednesday night following visits to Pacific island nations Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands, after a stop in the US state of Hawaii.
In Honolulu, Lai discussed “China’s military threats” towards Taiwan during a call with former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi, and met with US government officials and members of Congress — drawing a barrage of criticism from Beijing.
Landing in Guam, Lai was greeted on the tarmac by the island’s Governor Lou Leon Guerrero, Ingrid Larson from the Washington office of the de facto US embassy in Taiwan, and others.
