Taiwan’s president arrives in Hawaii for a 2-day stop in the US as part of South Pacific visit

TAOYUAN, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s president arrived Saturday in Hawaii to begin a two-day transit in the U.S. as part of a trip to the South Pacific, his first since assuming office. The stopover in Hawaii and one planned for the territory of Guam have drawn fierce criticism from Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and objects to official exchanges between it and the U.S., the island’s biggest backer and military provider. Lai Ching-te left on a weeklong trip to visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau — three diplomatic allies of the self-governed island in the Pacific….