Taiwanese Vice President William Lai has arrived in Paraguay after a stopover in the U.S. to attend the inauguration of new Paraguayan President Santiago Pena on Tuesday. This trip has sparked fears that it could spur more Chinese military drills near Taiwan, as Beijing has criticized Lai’s trip. Taiwan has defended the visit saying Taiwanese vice presidents have traveled to the U.S. many times before. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday it has not seen large-scale exercises or any other action by the Chinese military near the island.
Lai is currently being seen as the leading candidate to succeed Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen next January, when she steps down after serving two terms in office. Speaking to Bloomberg news agency on Tuesday, Lai said he has no plans to change the island’s formal name, but stressed that Taiwan is “not subordinate” to China.
Read more: https://www.dw.com/en/taiwan-vp-has-no-plans-to-change-islands-formal-name/a-66538831
