US tells China a Taiwan president stopover is ‘nothing new’

By AAMER MADHANI
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is stressing to China unofficial stopovers to the U.S. by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen should not be used as pretext by Beijing to increase aggressive activity in the Taiwan Strait. That’s according to a senior administration official who spoke about the sensitive matter on the condition of anonymity. Recently, senior U.S. officials in Washington and Beijing have underscored to their Chinese counterparts transit visits through the U.S. during broader international travel by Tsai has been routine. Beijing sees American contact with Taiwan as encouragement to make the island’s decades-old de facto independence permanent. Taiwan’s government said Tuesday that Tsai plans to stop in New York and Los Angeles.