Taiwan’s president set off on a mission on Saturday to shore up relations with some of his island democracy’s shrinking band of diplomatic allies: three tiny Pacific Island nations that have taken an outsize importance in Taiwan’s struggle against Chinese efforts to push it off the international stage.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te will leave Saturday on a week-long tour of the Pacific that includes a stopover in Hawaii, which has ignited fiery threats from Beijing.

Taiwan’s president has departed for a trip to the South Pacific that will include a two-day transit in the U.S., his first since assuming office.