China upset at Taiwanese vice president’s plan to visit U.S

China has warned against a possible stopover in the U.S. by Taiwanese Vice President and Presidential Candidate William Lai.

“China is firmly opposed to any form of official exchange between the U.S. and Taiwan,” said a Beijing Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.

However, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected the criticism from Beijing.

Such stopovers are “routine” and should be absolutely no reason for China to take “provocative action,” he said.

Lai is expected to stop in the U.S. as part of a trip to attend the inauguration of new Paraguayan President Santiago Peña in mid-August.

The Beijing Foreign Ministry spokeswoman added that Lai’s planned visit had been formally protested in Washington.

China will “closely monitor developments and take firm and vigorous measures to defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

Taiwan has had an independent government since 1949, but China considers the self-ruled democracy part of its territory.

The U.S. does not maintain an embassy in Taiwan.

In April, Beijing reacted with military exercises when Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen met with the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, during a U.S. stopover.

In Taipei, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Jeff Liu on Tuesday declined to reveal more details about Lai’s August trip and the planned transit in the U.S.