SAN FRANCISCO—The President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Tsai Ing-wen visited San Francisco on Friday, January 13. She stopped in the city on her way back home from South America, where she went to Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador for diplomatic purposes. She chose to visit the Twitter Inc. headquarters in SF.
“Had a great visit to @Twitter HQ today. Thank you to @vijaya and team for showing us around!” Tsai Ing-wen tweeted after her visit.
After spending time at the Twitter headquarters., Tsai Ing-wen went to the Hyatt Regency to attend a luncheon. There was a mixed bag of people outside the hotel, some supportive of the new President and some who protested the trip she made to South America due to potential repercussions. Though the visit was to build relations with foreign countries, there has been a sense of apprehension while forming alliances that could disturb the one between Taiwan and mainland China. As other relationships are strengthened, the one with China may be strained. President Tsai Ing-wen has received some backlash from the mainland after a congratulatory phone call made to President-Elect Donald Trump following the election.
When Tsai Ing-wen had stopped over in Austin, Texas before her week-long trip in South America, a spokesman for China responded to the Taiwanese President.
“We firmly oppose leaders of the Taiwan region, on the so-called basis of a transit visit, having any form of contact with US officials and engaging in activities that interfere with and damage China-US relations,” stated Lu Kang.
Before becoming president, Tsai Ing-wen was the Chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party from 2014-2016. The new president was sworn into office in may of last year, and is the first female president in Taiwan.
