- Title: Taiwanese leader arrives for meeting in San Francisco
- Date: 14th January 2017
- Summary: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 14, 2017) (REUTERS) WIDE OF DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING BANNERS AND WAVING FLAGS OUTSIDE HOTEL WHERE TAIWANESE PRESIDENT TSAI ING-WEN WAS SCHEDULE DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING U.S. FLAGS AND CHINESE FLAGS AND BANNERS DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING SIGNS READING: "One China" DEMONSTRATOR HOLDING A U.S. FLAG AND CHINESE FLAG DEMONSTRATOR WITH SIGN READING: "No independent Taiwan" PAN FROM HOTEL TO DEMONSTRATOR SPEAKING INTO MEGAPHONE SIDE VIEW OF DEMONSTRATOR SPEAKING INTO MEGAPHONE DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING BANNER READING: "America Chinese Peaceful Unification" (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMONSTRATOR JOHN LEE OF CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA SAYING: "I came here to protest against Tsai Ing-Wen. She wants to separate Taiwan from China and we are very much against that. We think that China should be united as one country not as two, therefore we are here to protest her passing through the United States." DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING SIGNS WITH MANDARIN WRITING AND BANNER READING: "N. America Chinese Peaceful Unification"
- Embargoed: 28th January 2017 20:11
- Keywords: San Francisco Taiwan President protest
- Location: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0015Z1YBLZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen passed through San Francisco on Saturday (January 14), a move that will not sit well with China who suspects she is seeking formal independence from the mainland.
Beijing was furious when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump broke years of diplomatic tradition by accepting a congratulatory telephone call from Tsai on his surprise election win. Beijing regards the one-China policy as the basis of its relations with the United States.
While Tsai's schedule was not released to the public, nearly 200 people gathered outside the San Francisco hotel where she was due to meet with business leaders.
The majority of those gathered believe Tsai's plans for Taiwan are detrimental to Beijing.
"She wants to separate Taiwan from China and we are very much against that. We think that China should be united as one country not as two, therefore we are here to protest her passing through the United States," John Lee of Cupertino, California said.
Among the crowd were also supporters, including members of "North American Friends of Tsai Association."
The stop in the U.S., comes on the heels of Tsai's trip to central America where she spent time meeting with leaders in Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.
It's Tsai's second stop in the U.S. this year. Last week, she with U.S. Republican lawmakers during a stopover in Houston. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None