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Taiwan's President Lai in United States area of Guam as part of Pacific tour

Taiwan President Lai Chingte remained in the U.S. area of Guam on Wednesday, his second U.S. stopover in less than a week during a tour to enhance ties with Pacific allies in the face of increasing Chinese pressure.

Lai showed up from

Tuvalu

and will stay in Guam one night before heading to Palau and going back to Taipei on Friday.

Lai was

welcomed in Guam by Ingrid Larson

, Washington office handling director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the body that functions as the informal U.S. embassy in Taiwan.

Lai was likewise welcomed by Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero, who called it an an honor to see him on what is his first overseas trip since taking workplace in May.

Lai dropped in Hawaii at the weekend, before heading on

to the Marshall Islands

and

Tuvalu

, like Palau among 12 countries that retain formal diplomatic ties with Taipei and a part of the world where China has been putting in stronger influence.

While it has just informal relations with Taiwan and follows a one-China policy under which it acknowledges Beijing diplomatically, the U.S. government is obliged by law to provide the island with the ways to safeguard itself.

It has also frequently facilitated what are referred to as informal stopovers when Taiwanese leaders check out distant allies in the Pacific, Latin America or the Caribbean.

STATE-OF-THE-ART MARKET

In a speech in Hawaii, Lai said Taiwan's U.S. partnership was a source of strength for the state-of-the-art market, consisting of the semiconductor sector, and revealed Taiwan was a

relied on and trustworthy partner

.

Taiwan is a significant manufacturer of chips utilized in whatever from vehicles to AI applications and is home to essential Apple and Nvidia provider TSMC.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticised Taiwan during his election project, however, accusing it of taking organization from U.S. semiconductor companies. His danger of broad import tariffs could impact an industry vital to Taiwan's. economy.

China, which thinks about Taiwan its own area and Lai. a hazardous separatist, opposes any foreign interactions or. check outs by the island's leaders.

It stepped up military pressure against Taiwan,. including two rounds of war games this year and on Friday prompted. Washington to exercise

utmost care

in its relations with Taiwan.

Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo reaffirmed ties with. Taiwan after he was chosen in February, and travelled to Taipei. to meet Lai for Taiwan's national day celebrations in October.

Different nations, the same belief in democracy;. various time zones, the very same air of liberty, Lai wrote on. Facebook after his welcome in Tuvalu.

With a population of 11,000 spread throughout nine. low-lying atolls, and forecasts that half of its main town. will be submerged by increasing tides by 2050, Tuvalu is reliant on. donors including Taiwan to strengthen its coast.

It will also be linked to worldwide. telecoms by a subsea cable television for the first time in a. joint task backed by Taiwan, Australia, the United States and. Japan.

(source: Reuters)