President Lai Looks to Shore Up U.S. Ties Ahead of Leadership Change

TaiwanPlus News

President Lai holds closed-door meetings on the second day of his Pacific trip. He's looking to shore up Taiwan's ties with the U.S. before Donald Trump takes office in January.

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00:00After kicking off his Pacific trip with a series of visits to important locations here

00:05in Hawaii and meeting with local officials and Congress people, Lai has had a series

00:11of closed-door meetings today on the second day of his first official overseas trip. Lai

00:18has an important job to do here in the U.S. He's shoring up those ties with Washington,

00:25Taiwan's biggest backer and the supplier of the weapons it needs to counter China, which

00:29claims Taiwan as part of its territory. This, of course, comes as the U.S. changes leadership.

00:35Incoming President Trump has said Taiwan should pay more for the protection its relationship

00:39with the U.S. provides. Lai will be looking to reassure the U.S. that Taiwan takes its

00:44defense seriously and is committed to defending itself, as well as show Taiwanese back home

00:49that he has a handle on this all-important relationship during this time of change.

00:59These dialogues come as Beijing continues to protest U.S. and Taiwan engaging like

01:20this here in Hawaii. Lai and the people he's meeting treading a fine line so as not to

01:26overly antagonize Beijing. John Su and Rick Lowett in Honolulu, Hawaii for Taiwan Plus.

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