No disguising real purpose of Lai's overseas trip

Taipei only confirms the overseas trips of the head of the island's authorities shortly before they happen because it knows Taiwan island is not a state, and such trips are not diplomatic engagements that are conventionally announced in advance.

So although local and Western media have made public Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te's planned visits to Paraguay and Belize next month, along with "stopovers" in the United States, his office has remained conspicuously silent when it comes to queries.

Previously, Taipei has attributed such "stopovers" in the US to the "long distance" between the island and Central and South America, where seven out of the island's remaining 12"diplomatic partner" states are located. It will not be a surprise if it trots out the same excuse this time.