China has previously responded aggressively to U.S. transit stops by Taiwanese leaders. In April 2023, Beijing conducted three days of military exercises around Taiwan after Lai's predecessor, former President Tsai Ing-wen of the DPP, met then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a U.S. stopover en route to Central America.

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te has arrived in Hawaii for a two-day transit in the U.S. as part of a trip to the South Pacific