President Tsai's activities and itinerary during transit stop in Miami
While President Tsai Ing-wen's charter flight was en route to Taipei, at 1:00 p.m. on July 1 Los Angeles time (4:00 a.m. July 2 Taipei time) Deputy Secretary-General to the President Tseng Hou-jen (曾厚仁) recounted the president's activities and itinerary during her transit stop in Los Angeles.
Deputy Secretary-General Tseng said that on the morning of July 1, President Tsai spoke by phone with Paul Ryan, Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Currently the highest elected official in the Republican Party, in 2012 Mr. Ryan was also the Party's candidate for vice president. He thus plays a prominent role in US politics. In their phone conversation, President Tsai first thanked Mr. Ryan for paying close attention to Taiwan-US relations and Taiwan Strait security issues, as well as supporting US arms sales to Taiwan. She also explained the importance that Taiwan places on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), noting that because of Taiwan's international status and predicament, joining regional, multilateral trade agreements would be a "once and for all" solution for us. The president then expressed hope that Mr. Ryan will continue to support Taiwan in the House of Representatives.
That morning, President Tsai also spoke by phone with former US President Bill Clinton, who has a deep relationship with Taiwan, having visited six times. During their conversation, former President Clinton first congratulated President Tsai on being elected President of the Republic of China, and also expressed his best wishes for success during her term of office. President Tsai congratulated former President Clinton's wife, Hillary Clinton, for clinching the nomination as the Democratic Party's candidate for US president, and expressed her best wishes for a positive outcome in election this coming November. President Tsai also made a point to thank former President Clinton, as Taiwan had consulted with his trade negotiation team, which facilitated Taiwan's smooth accession into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1998.
Earlier in the day, President Tsai attended a breakfast meeting with four members of the US House of Representatives including Congressman Brad Sherman, Congressman Mike Honda, Congresswoman Mimi Walters, and Congressman Scott Peters, California State Treasurer John Chiang, and American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond F. Burghardt. State Treasurer Chiang has entered the race for governor of the State of California. If elected, he will become the first governor of Taiwanese ancestry in a large and important US state, a significant achievement. Taiwan parliamentarians in the delegation Liu Shyh-Fang (劉世芳), Lee Hung-Chun (李鴻鈞), Chen Ying (陳瑩), Chiu Yi-Ying (邱議瑩), Hsu Chih-Chieh (許智傑), Lin Chun-Hsien (林俊憲), and Huang Kuo-Chang (黃國昌) also attended the breakfast meeting and engaged in frequent and friendly interactions with the US lawmakers in attendance.