Beijing – Taiwan’s president was forced Wednesday to delay a trip to Latin America for a day after Washington snubbed his request for a stopover in New York or San Francisco.
China claims the affluent and democratically governed island of Taiwan as part of its territory.
The Chinese government makes no secret of its dislike for Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian because of his support for the island’s continued separation from China.
Chen surprised U.S. officials in March when he scrapped the National Unification Council, an inactive body in Taiwan that was founded to guide reunification with China.
Chen’s move enraged China’s communist government.
“The National Unification Council business was the primary reason for this” stopover dispute, said Alexander Huang, an international relations expert at Taiwan’s Tamkang University.
Huang said the Bush administration also is wary of offending China, which holds veto power on the U.N. Security Council, as it confronts Iran over its nuclear program.
Taiwan asked the Bush administration on April 21 for permission for a stopover. Such transit requests have been granted routinely for more than a decade.
