Trump admin cancels Taiwan president’s NYC stop amid Trump-China trade talks

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te canceled his United States visit to New York City and Dallas after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration urged him to avoid a stopover in the Big Apple, according to a report from the Financial Times. A foreign affairs expert said the cancellation is likely to raise tensions between the two nations as Trump prioritized trade talks with China.

Lai’s planned visit to the U.S. between trips to and from Latin America was canceled late Tuesday, July 29, the financial magazine reported. Unnamed U.S. officials told Lai he couldn’t stop in New York City during his trip in the Western Hemisphere, the magazine wrote, citing anonymous sources. The planned visit came at a time when Trump sought to finalize a deal with China by a Friday, Aug. 1, tariff deadline.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters at a press conference that it’s a longstanding policy for high-ranking Taiwanese officials’ transit to be approved by the agency.

“There have been no plans, travel plans for the president,” she said. “There has been, as a result, nothing canceled.”

Lai’s office issued a statement Monday, July 28, that said he had no plans to travel overseas in the near future because of a recent typhoon that hit Taiwan and reciprocal tariffs with the U.S., according to the Financial Times. Sources told the magazine the decision came after the U.S. declined Lai’s travel.

David Sacks, an Asian studies fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Straight Arrow News that the canceled trip sends a message to China that the United States’ relationship with Taiwan can be managed on China’s terms.

“It could potentially become a bargaining chip in trade negotiations between the U.S. and China,” Sacks said.

Canceled visit could impact US relations with Taiwan, China

Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a Bloomberg reporter during a Tuesday, July 29, press briefing that Taiwan is a province of China, and asked for the U.S. to not recognize the area as a standalone country, but as part of China. 

“Let me underscore that China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the U.S. and the Taiwan region and firmly opposes any trip by leader of the Taiwan region to the U.S. in any name or under whatever pretext,” Guo told the reporter. “This position is consistent, clear and firm.”

Bruce echoed that hardline stance at her briefing. She said the U.S. is “committed to our longstanding ‘one China’ policy.” That was established through the three treaties that established the United States and China as diplomatic partners, the U.S. providing military support to Taiwan and recognizing that Taiwan is part of China. 

Sacks said this turn could fuel American skepticism in Taiwan, which is a belief that the U.S. is an unreliable partner and will abandon the country. 

In the U.S., Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Trump is caving to China in hopes of securing a trade deal, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, July 29. Taiwan is also expected to meet Trump’s Aug. 1 deadline on tariffs, which could affect the cost of goods from Taiwan such as laptops, smartphones and semiconductor chips.

Trump told reporters on Wednesday, July 30, that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping are “moving along” in trade talks.

“We’re right in step,” he said. “I think we’re going to have a very fair deal with China.”

Lai was expected to stop in Dallas for the Taiwan Expo, The New York Times reported. The expo didn’t have Lai explicitly on the event schedule, but listed a “VIP from Taiwan” under opening remarks. The event is a showcase of the two countries’ economic partnership, highlighting Taiwan’s presence in the technology and manufacturing industries. Some of the featured businesses are Acer and ASUS, both electronics companies. 

Sacks doesn’t foresee trade negotiations between Taiwan and the United States to completely falter, as Taiwan dominates chip manufacturing, which the U.S. needs for artificial intelligence. Taiwan Vice President Cheng Li-chun is still in Washington, D.C., holding last-minute trade talks with U.S. officials, the Central News Agency, a Taiwanese news site, reported Wednesday in Chinese.

The U.S. Census Bureau ranked Taiwan as the country’s fourth biggest trade partner in May, behind China, Canada and Mexico.

“What the cancellation of the transit raises are much more fundamental questions about where the U.S.-Taiwan political and security relationship is going to go under the Trump administration,” Sacks said.