TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) will make stopovers in New York and San Francisco during an Aug. 12-18 trip to Paraguay for the inauguration of its new president.

Lai will stop in New York on Aug. 12 and San Francisco on Aug. 16, said Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yui (俞大㵢) at a press conference on Wednesday (Aug. 2), refuting rumors about a stopover in Washington, D.C. Lai is scheduled to arrive in Paraguay on Aug. 14, the day before Santiago Peña’s inauguration.

Describing the transits in U.S. cities as routine for Taiwan’s top-level officials when visiting the country’s allies, Yui said this stopover should not cause any discomfort for other parties or “become a pretext for deepening conflict.” The remark was an apparent reference to China, which has opposed any top-level exchanges between Taiwan and the U.S.

Yui did not specify the details of Lai’s stops in New York and San Francisco, other than saying the transits were arranged on the principles of comfort, convenience, safety, and dignity.

Lai, the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential candidate, is attending the inauguration of Paraguay’s president-elect Santiago Peña in the capacity of a special envoy. He will be treated as such during his short stay in the U.S., according to Yui. Paraguay and Taiwan established diplomatic ties in 1957.

Beijing launched military exercises around Taiwan in August 2022 and April in protest of a visit by then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and current House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles, respectively.