Taiwan is a key force for promoting global peace and stability, President Lai Ching-te said as he left for Hawaii on Saturday as part of a Pacific tour, thanking the United States for allowing him to stop over.

BEIJING >> China urged the United States today to exercise the “utmost caution” on relations with democratically governed Taiwan, ahead of a sensitive trip its President Lai Ching-te starts this week to both Hawaii and Guam,

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te will visit Hawaii and the US territory of Guam during an upcoming trip to the Pacific, prompting condemnations from China, which could respond by staging a fresh round of military drills near the island democracy.