BEIJING >> China urged the United States today to exercise the “utmost caution” on relations with democratically governed Taiwan, ahead of a sensitive trip its President Lai Ching-te starts this week to both Hawaii and Guam,

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.

China's military on Thursday vowed to defeat all attempts at secessionism and urged the United States not to send the wrong signals on Taiwan independence, ahead of a trip by Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te to Hawaii as part of a Pacific tour.