CHINESE authorities slammed today the Taiwanese president’s plan to stop in Hawaii and Guam during a trip to the South Pacific.

President of the Chinese breakaway province of Taiwan Lai Ching-te is set to leave Taiwan tomorrow for a week-long trip to visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau — three diplomatic allies of the island regime.

Mr Lai’s office confirmed today that he will make stopovers in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam.

Taiwan has just 12 formal diplomatic allies. However, it retains contacts with other nations — particularly the US, its main source of diplomatic and military support.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that if the US wants to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, it is important for it to handle the Taiwan issue “with utmost caution, clearly opposing Taiwan independence and supporting China’s peaceful reunification.”

Ms Mao said China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the US and Taiwan, and visits by Taiwan’s leaders to the US for any reason, describing them as violations of the US commitment not to afford diplomatic status to Taiwan after Washington switched its formal recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.