Harris’s Quick Hi to Taiwan Vice President Risks China’s Ire

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris greeted Taiwanese Vice President William Lai at the inauguration of Honduran President Xiomara Castro, a fleeting encounter that may nonetheless exacerbate tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Honduras is one of just 14 countries to recognize Taiwan as an independent state. Beijing regards the island as a breakaway province and regularly protests any interactions by foreign officials with those from Taipei.

Harris greeted Lai on stage at the inauguration on Thursday along with the king of Spain and leaders from Costa Rica, Belize and the Dominican Republic, according to a White House official. 

Lai and Harris had a brief chat lasting about 30 seconds, according to Kolas Yotaka, Taiwan Presidential Office spokesperson, who added that Lai thanked the U.S. for its “rock solid” support of the island.  

“He came up and introduced himself to me. The brief conversation that we had was really about a common interest in this part of the region,” Harris told reporters. “We did not discuss China,” she added. 

U.S. diplomacy around Taiwan is notoriously delicate making any interaction between an American politician and Taipei notable. For decades, Washington has recognized Beijing as the “sole legal government of China” under its “one China policy,” without clarifying its position on Taiwan’s sovereignty. 

Harris’s interaction was unusual but not without precedent. As Vice President, Joe Biden chatted with Taiwan’s then-leader Ma Ying-jeou at the Vatican in 2013. Last year, the State Department eased limits on “contacts with Taiwan,” as the U.S. tried to counter China’s challenges to the island’s sovereignty.

During her campaign, Castro threatened to change diplomat allegiance from Taiwan to China, comments she later backtracked on.  

China opposes any official interactions between the U.S. and Taiwan, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Friday at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

He added that the U.S. should follow the one-China principle, and “not send the wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces lest it harm the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait and China-U.S. relations.”

The vice president is returning to Washington later Thursday. 

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