HONOLULU (AP) — On a two-day visit to Hawaii, Taiwan’s president Lai Ching-te met with the state’s governor and congressional representatives as part of a Pacific island tour that has already triggered criticism from Beijing.

On Sunday, China’s Foreign Ministry said it “strongly condemned” U.S. support for Lai’s visit and had lodged a complaint with the U.S. It also denounced a newly announced U.S. weapons sale to Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as its own territory.

“China will closely monitor the situation’s development, and take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said the statement.

Hawaii was Lai’s first stop on a weeklong voyage that will later take him to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau. They account for three of the 12 countries Taipei has formal diplomatic relations with.

Hawaii’s Gov. Josh Green on Saturday hosted Lai at the state’s emergency management agency where they discussed disaster preparedness. Green, who was a longtime emergency room physician before becoming governor, posted on social media that he and Lai discussed how their experiences in health care informed their governance. Lai is also a physician by training and obtained a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University.

“Together, we extended a warm aloha to Lai and his delegation, highlighting Hawai’i’s shared values of resilience and collaboration with Taiwan,” Green said in an Instagram post.

Lai also visited Bishop Museum, Hawaii’s leading museum of natural history and Native Hawaiian culture.

In the evening, Lai posed for photos with Hawaii congressional representatives and state lawmakers at a dinner banquet with the Taiwanese American community.

U.S. Rep. Ed Case, a Democrat who represents Honolulu in Congress, said on social media that he told the audience that “our ties endured on shared values and interests to advance mutual goals and meet shared challenges.”

It is unclear whether Lai with meet with any senior officials from the Biden administration or anyone from the incoming Trump administration during his Hawaii stay.

President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg in July that Taiwan should pay for its defense. The island has purchased billions of dollars of defense weaponry from the U.S.

Trump evaded answering whether he would defend the island from Chinese military action.

The new arms announced by the U.S. State Department Friday include $385 million in spare parts and equipment for a fleet of F-16s, as well as support for tactical communication system to Taiwan.

The U.S. is obligated to help the island defend itself under the Taiwan Relations Act but maintains a position of strategic ambiguity over whether it would ever get involved if Taiwan were to be invaded by China.

Former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen drew vocal opposition from China when she stopped in New York last year on her way to Latin America. Tsai met with former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the time.

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 U.S.

China also strongly objects to leading American politicians visiting the island as it views any official contact with foreign governments and Taiwan as an infringement on its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan. Washington switched its formal recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

Beijing lodges ‘serious protests’ with the US saying it ‘strongly condemns’ Taiwanese leader’s stopover in Hawaii, Guam.

China has pledged “resolute countermeasures” following the United States’ decision to approve more arms sales to Taiwan, just hours before the island’s President William Lai Ching-te made a transit through the state of Hawaii, which further angered Beijing.

In a statement on Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the US arms sale to Taiwan sends “a wrong signal” to the island’s  Taiwan independence forces and undermines US-China relations.

“China will closely follow the developments and take resolute and strong measures to defend our nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it added.

The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei, to the constant anger of Beijing.

Taiwan rejects China’s claims of sovereignty.

The US State Department had approved the potential sale, worth an estimated $385m, of spare parts and support for F-16 jets and radars to Taiwan, hours before Lai began his trip to three Pacific nations, with stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam.

In a separate statement issued by a Foreign Ministry spokesman on Sunday, China said it “strongly condemned” the US for “arranging” Lai’s stopover, during which he was welcomed by Hawaii Governor Josh Green.

The statement added that it has “lodged serious protests with the US”.

The ministry added it firmly opposes any official exchanges between the US and Taiwan.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and the most important issue in its relations with Washington, strongly dislikes Lai, calling him a “separatist”.

During Lai’s transit in Hawaii, he visited the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbour, during which he said the US and Taiwan should “fight together to prevent war”.

“Peace is priceless, and war has no winners,” he said.

Looking relaxed in a Hawaiian shirt, Lai was given the “red carpet treatment” on the tarmac of Honolulu’s international airport, according to his office, which said it was the first time a Taiwanese president had been given such a welcome.

He was met by Governor Green as well as Ingrid Larson, managing director in Washington of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).

In his first public speech of the weeklong trip, Lai said he was “grateful” to the US for its assistance in helping to ensure the success of the tour.

After Hawaii, Lai will visit Taiwan’s allies, the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau – the only Pacific island nations among the 12 countries that recognise Taiwan’s claim to statehood.

HILO (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii County will have a new mayor Monday, and he says he’s ready to hit the ground running.

Mayor-Elect Kimo Alameda is new to public office but not new to government, having served under mayors Billy Kenoi and Harry Kim. His campaign focused on bringing change and transparency to government.

Alameda is a staunch advocate for geographic equity, which is why the Hilo native says his inauguration ceremony will be in Kona on Monday at noon. It is expected to draw at least 1,000 people.

He said his first priority is to connect with the staff and assess the needs of all the county departments, in particular the wait times for building permits and obstacles to constructing more affordable housing. He said he’s considering improvements like third party reviews and shot-clock deadlines.

Alameda draws from a range of experience from various positions, including as a school counselor and special education teacher at the state Department of Education.

He later served in the Department of Health Children’s Division as a statewide transition specialist and as head of the Adult Mental Health Division’s Office of Multicultural Services and the Office of Health Equity.

He also advocates for healthcare equity on an island plagued by a shortage of doctors in rural areas and a growing aging population.

As head of the fentanyl task force, he also plans to address drugs and homelessness.

He said he also plans to focus on emergency response to natural disasters in Hawaii County, the handling of cesspools and what’s next for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).

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