China criticises Taiwanese president's plan to stop in Hawaii and Guam during trip to South Pacific

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te will stop over in Hawaii and Guam during his trip to the South Pacific, drawing criticism from China.

Lai is to leave Taiwan on Saturday on a weeklong trip to visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau — three diplomatic allies of the self-governed island.

Lai's office confirmed on Friday that he will make stopovers in the US state of Hawaii and the US territory of Guam.

Under pressure from China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, the island has just 12 formal diplomatic allies. However, it retains strong contacts with dozens of other nations, including the US, its main source of diplomatic and military support.

Lai's planned stopovers drew criticism from Beijing.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said if the US wants to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, it is important for it to handle the Taiwan issue “with utmost caution, clearly opposing Taiwan independence and supporting China's peaceful reunification."

Mao said China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the US and Taiwan, and visits by Taiwan's leaders to the US for any reason.

When his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, began a stopover in the US on her way to Central America last year, China said it was closely watching and would “resolutely safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The Chinese military also launched drills around Taiwan last year as a “stern warning” over what it called collusion between “separatists and foreign forces" days after Lai, then Taiwan's vice president, stopped over in the US.

China objects strongly to such US stopovers by Taiwan's leaders, as well as visits to the island by leading American politicians, terming them violations of the US commitment not to afford diplomatic status to Taiwan after Washington switched its formal recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

With the number of its diplomatic partners declining under Chinese pressure, Taiwan has redoubled efforts to participate in international forums, even from the sidelines.