China on Tuesday asked the United States to block Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen from passing through the nation en route to Guatemala next month.
The statement from China came days after US President-elect Donald Trump broke precedent and talked to the Taiwanese President over phone, irking China in the process.
Trump broke a 37-year precedent by calling the Taiwan leader last week. The precedent limits direct talks between a US President or President-elect and the leader of Taiwan, an island state off the Chinese coast. No US President has spoken directly to a Taiwanese leader ever since former President Jimmy Carter announced full diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China and ended relations with Taiwan. China considers Taiwan a renegade province.
The US Department of State, however, rejected China's call stating that such form of transits were based on "long-standing US practice, consistent with the unofficial nature of (US) relations with Taiwan."
The Taiwanese leader is scheduled to visit Guatemala on January 11 and 12, Guatemala's Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Raul Morales told Reuters. Guatemala is one of the diplomatic allies of Taiwan.
Taiwanese media said that Tsai is scheduled to go through New York early next month on her way to Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador. Although officials in Taiwan have not confirmed Tsai's trip, but such trips require making a transit stop in the United States and meetings with officials friendly with Taiwan.
According to Taiwan's Liberty Times, Tsai's delegation would attempt to meet Trump's administration including the White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, after the US President-elect assumes presidency on January 20 replacing President Barack Obama.
Trump team adviser has said that a meeting between Trump and Tsai would be "very unlikely" if she went through New York on her way to Guatemala.
A Chinese ministry in a statement said that it hopes that US "does not allow her transit, and does not send any wrong signals to 'Taiwan independence' forces."
