On his way to Paraguay, the vice president of Taiwan is stopping in New York

On Saturday, Taiwan Vice President William Lai began a crucial U.S. stopover in New York, which China has denounced and Taiwanese officials worry could lead to increased Chinese military operations surrounding the democratically-governed island

Lai, who is expected to win Taiwan’s presidential election in January, will ostensibly only stop in America for transit on his trip to and from Paraguay, where the country’s new president will be sworn in the following week.

According to the flight-tracking programme Flightradar24, Lai’s China Airlines flight from Taipei touched down at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City shortly after 8:15 p.m. local time (0:15 GMT).

According to authorities briefed on the trip, neither Taiwan nor the United States have provided precise information regarding his U.S. schedule, which both countries are attempting to keep low-key.

Taiwanese officials’ visits to the United States are normal, according to Taipei and Washington, and are in no way a reason for China to act in a “provocative” manner.

However, Beijing has expressed outrage at what it perceives as additional U.S. support for Taiwan, which it claims as its own.

In order to terrify voters ahead of an election next year and instill a “fear of war” in them, Taiwanese officials claim that China is likely to start military exercises next week close to Taiwan.

They will do this by using Lai’s stops in the United States as a pretext.

Lai briefly mentioned his time in the United States while speaking to media before leaving Taiwan, saying only that he would be visiting New York first.

Lai’s visit to the United States will be the vice president of Taiwan’s 11th such stopover, which the State Department describes as usual but “private and unofficial.”/Reuters.