HONOLULU—Taiwan President Lai Ching-te discussed “China’s military threats” toward the island in a call with former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday, drawing a fresh barrage of criticism from Beijing.
Pelosi’s long-standing support for Taiwan has infuriated China, which responded to her visit to Taipei in 2022 with massive military drills around the island.
Lai and Pelosi discussed “China’s military threats toward Taiwan”, presidential spokeswoman Karen Kuo told reporters, describing the 20-minute call between the “long-time friends” as “warm and amicable”.
China, which insists the island is part of its territory, opposes any international recognition of Taiwan and its claim to be a sovereign state.
Beijing especially bristles at official contact between the island and the United States, which is Taiwan’s most important supporter and biggest arms supplier.
China has already fumed over more US arms sales to the island and Lai’s stop in Hawaii, where he was welcomed with red carpets, garlands of flowers and “alohas”.
In response to Lai’s conversation with Pelosi, China called on the United States to “stop meddling with Taiwan” and cease “supporting and indulging Taiwan independence separatist forces”.
“The Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing.
Since arriving in Hawaii on Saturday at the start of a Pacific tour, Lai has met with state Governor Josh Green, members of the US Congress, officials from the de facto US embassy in Taiwan and others.
In his first public speech of the trip, Lai said Saturday that we have to “fight together to prevent war,” warning there were “no winners” from conflict.
On the eve of Lai’s week-long Pacific tour, the United States approved a proposed sale to Taiwan of spare parts for F-16s and radar systems, as well as communications equipment, in deals valued at $385 million in total.
China’s foreign ministry called on the United States over the weekend to “immediately stop arming Taiwan”.
“China will take strong and resolute countermeasures to firmly defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity,” it added.
In a separate statement, the foreign ministry said China “strongly condemns” the United States for Lai’s stopover and that it had “lodged serious protests with the US”.
Pelosi was one of “several long-time friends in the United States” whom Lai spoke to on Sunday, Kuo told reporters.
They included “cross-party figures who reiterated their steadfast support for Taiwan”, she said.
Lai and Pelosi also discussed artificial intelligence and the semiconductor industry, Kuo said.
