• Editor, with agencies

Former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) plans to visit Canada next week, two diplomatic sources said.

Tsai, whose second term ended in May, is due to travel to Nova Scotia and deliver a speech at the Halifax International Security Forum, which begins Friday next week, two diplomatic sources told Reuters. speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue.

Tsai’s office said that if details of the travel plans were confirmed, they would announce them at an appropriate time. It was not specified.

Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times

Neither the Halifax Forum nor Canada’s Department of Global Affairs responded to requests for comment sent outside Canadian business hours.

China’s Foreign Ministry also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Canada has a difficult relationship with China, including accusations from Ottawa over Chinese hacking attacks that Beijing denies, as well as disputes over human rights and trade.

Tsai’s travel plans to Canada and the forum were first reported by Taiwanese media.

Tsai visited the Czech Republic, France and Belgium last month on a sensitive trip due to concerns about Chinese espionage and harassment.

President William Lai (賴清德) fully supported her European visit, calling her the nation’s “best spokesperson” on the international stage.

Under Tsai’s leadership, the government has significantly increased military investment and deepened unofficial relations with major countries, including the United States and Japan.

Meanwhile, a national security official yesterday refused to confirm media reports that Lai was planning a trip to Taiwan’s allies in the South Pacific with a stopover in Hawaii as soon as the end of the month.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said planning for the president’s foreign visits is “going on schedule” and “there will be no surprises.”

Such a visit would be “announced when the time is right,” they said.

Chinese-language media reported that Lai planned to travel to the South Pacific late this month or early next month and would make a stopover in Hawaii.

Taiwan has 12 diplomatic allies, including three in the South Pacific: Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.

Speculation that Lai would embark on an overseas visit after taking office in May has circulated intermittently for months, with the presidential office responding only that “such arrangements will be reported to the public in due course.”

Despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations, Washington has allowed Taiwanese presidents to make stopovers on American soil during their trips to visit Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.

The way they were received in the United States was often interpreted by the media as a sign of how Washington wanted to manage its relations with Taipei.

Tsai has visited the South Pacific allies twice during her two four-year terms, in 2017 and 2019.

His 2017 trip included stops in Honolulu, Hawaii and Guam.