Honduras is one in every of simply 14 international locations to recognise Taiwan as an impartial state. Beijing regards the island as a breakaway province and repeatedly protests any interactions by overseas officers with these from Taipei.
Harris greeted Lai on stage on the inauguration on Thursday together with the king of Spain and leaders from Costa Rica, Belize and the Dominican Republic, in response to a White House official.
Lai and Harris had a short chat lasting about 30 seconds, in response to Kolas Yotaka, Taiwan Presidential Office spokesperson, who added that Lai thanked the US for its “rock solid” assist of the island.
“He came up and introduced himself to me. The brief conversation that we had was really about a common interest in this part of the region,” Harris instructed reporters. “We did not discuss China,” she added.
US diplomacy round Taiwan is notoriously delicate making any interplay between an American politician and Taipei notable. For many years, Washington has recognised Beijing because the “sole legal government of China” below its “one China policy,” with out clarifying its place on Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Harris’s interplay was uncommon however not with out precedent. As Vice President, Joe Biden chatted with Taiwan’s then-leader Ma Ying-jeou on the Vatican in 2013. Last 12 months, the State Department eased limits on “contacts with Taiwan,” because the US tried to counter China’s challenges to the island’s sovereignty.
Friend zone
During her marketing campaign, Castro threatened to vary diplomat allegiance from Taiwan to China, feedback she later backtracked on.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Harris and Lai’s encounter. The vp is returning to Washington later Thursday.
