00:00Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Jialong is defending his diplomatic record during his time in office,
00:05saying Taiwan has strengthened ties with partners around the world despite mounting pressure
00:09from China.
00:10At an annual briefing in Taipei, Lin is taking questions from reporters about the state of
00:15Taiwan's diplomatic relations.
00:17When asked about speculation over a possible call between Taiwan President Lai Qingde and
00:22U.S. President Donald Trump, he said Taiwan is closely watching signals from Washington.
00:38Lin Jialong is working hard to preserve its strong unofficial ties with Washington, Taiwan's
00:48main security partner and biggest arms supplier.
00:51Lin also rejected suggestions that Taiwan could become part of any broader U.S.-China deal
01:02Lin Jialong.
01:03Lin Jialong also addressed questions about possible overseas travel by President Lai. He
01:23He says overseas visits would depend on invitations from partner nations and transit arrangements
01:28along the route.
01:29If there are someé诡 or a significant event, if we have a request, we will be able
01:39to consider it.
01:40But this is to look at what's going on, because we also need to go to La T'in-Maiso,
01:47like
01:47we used to go to La T'in-Maiso, like we used to go to Guantao and Xiawei.
01:51His comments come after Taiwan says China pressured some African nations to revoke overflight
01:57permission for President Lai's charter plane last month, forcing him to postpone a planned
02:02visit to African ally Aswatini.
02:05Taiwan has 12 formal diplomatic alliances left after several countries switched recognition
02:10to Beijing in recent years.
02:12But Lin says Taiwan's international support can no longer be measured by only formal alliances
02:18alone.
02:19Hank Shu and Lily Lamantina in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.
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