Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has vowed to bolster the self-ruled island’s international presence as she heads on a four-nation trip to Central America. The diplomatic mission, with stopovers in the United States, will be closely scrutinised by Beijing for signs of future US policies regarding Taiwan. An irritated Beijing, which warned Washington against admitting Tsai, is certain to react with stronger pressure against Taipei if Tsai meets with US president-elect Donald Trump or his team, observers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait said. Tsai began her nine-day visit on Saturday – her second since taking office in May. She was due to arrive in Houston the same day, where she would stop overnight, before heading to Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador. She is scheduled to return to Taipei on January 14 following a second US stopover, this time in San Francisco. “I have two important missions on this visit,” Tsai said at a brief conference at Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei, prior to her departure. “One is to cement ties with our allies and increase Taiwan’s global presence. “The other is to deepen bilateral cooperation programmes with our allies,” she said, adding she would seize the opportunity to have closer interaction not just with the leaders of Taiwan’s allies, but also with leaders of other countries. The trip is crucial for Taiwan as it struggles to retain its remaining 21 allies despite pressure from Beijing, especially amid rising concern that Nicaragua might soon move its allegiance to the mainland. Tsai’s trip follows a phone conversation between her and Trump last month, which broke decades-old diplomatic protocol. In a move that further infuriated Beijing, Trump later questioned the validity of the one-China policy if Beijing did not make concessions on trade and other issues. Beijing, which sees Taiwan as a renegade province, warned that Sino-US cooperation would be jeopardised if the one-China policy was not adhered to.
