- Title: Taiwan's President Tsai dodges questions as she leaves Houston hotel
- Date: 7th January 2017
- Summary: HOUSTON, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 7, 2017) (REUTERS) TAIWANESE PRESIDENT, TSAI ING-WEN, COMING OUT OF HER HOTEL AS JOURNALISTS ASK QUESTIONS/SHE STOPS AND COMMENTS ON THE COLD WEATHER AND PLACES HER HAND OVER HER MOUTH INDICATING THAT SHE WILL NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS MEDIA GATHERED TSAI'S CAR DRIVING AWAY POLICE ESCORT FOLLOWING
- Embargoed: 22nd January 2017 23:23
- Keywords: Taiwan USA China President Tsai Houston Trump relations
- Location: HOUSTON, TEXAS, UNITED STATES
- City: HOUSTON, TEXAS, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0015Y2ZBRB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen arrived in Houston on Saturday (January 7) for a transit stop ahead of a visit to allies in Latin America.
A few hours after her arrival, Tsai left her hotel but avoided questions from lingering reporters about any possible meetings with representatives of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
China had repeated a call for the United States to block her stopover after unease in Beijing over Trump's comments on Taiwan and trade.
Trump, due to take office on Jan. 20, has angered China by speaking by telephone to president Tsai, casting doubt on the incoming administration's commitment to only recognizing the Beijing government, and not Taiwan, under a "one China" policy.
Trump has left open the possibility of meeting Tsai if she visits the United States after he is sworn in. He also has rattled Beijing by appointing people in his administration who are critical of China's trade practices.
Approximately 200 members of Houston's Taiwanese community turned out to welcome President Tsai as she arrived at her hotel.
China is deeply suspicious of Tsai, and thinks she wants to push for the formal independence of Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing regards as a renegade province ineligible for state-to-state relations.
The United States, which switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, has acknowledged the Chinese position that there is only "one China" and that Taiwan is part of it.
China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's Communist forces won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled to the island.
Tsai will also transit San Francisco next week after visiting Latin American allies. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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