by WorldTribune Staff, August 13, 2018

China’s ongoing efforts to erase references to Taiwan as an independent nation will not succeed, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said in Los Angeles on Aug. 12.

Beijing has formally protested her U.S. stopovers on a trip to Latin America.

“In going abroad, the whole world can see Taiwan; they can see our country as well as our support for democracy and freedom,” Tsai said before departing for Los Angeles, where she was stopping en route to Belize and Paraguay, Reuters reported.

“We only need to be firm so that no one can obliterate Taiwan’s existence,” Tsai said.

The regime of Chinese supreme leader Xi Jinping has ordered a number of foreign companies Beijing deals with to label Taiwan as part of China on their websites and is excluding Taiwan from as many international forums as it can, the Reuters report noted.

China has also had success in slashing the number of countries which recognize Taiwan as an independent nation. With Burkina Faso and the Dominican Republic bowing to Beijing this year, that number now stands at 18.

Tsai’s trip began one day after Taiwan’s state-run refiner CPC Corp announced a deal valued at $25 billion to purchase liquefied natural gas from the United States over the next 25 years.

Washington has no formal ties with Taiwan but is the island’s strongest ally and sole foreign arms supplier.

China, which insists Tsai wants to push for Taiwan’s formal independence, has already complained to Washington about her U.S. stopovers, which include Houston on her way back from her current trip, the Reuters report said.

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