TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The White House is “very anxious” about Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) comments about visiting the U.S. president’s office, according to a former White House China official.

Lai, who is running for Taiwan’s presidency as the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate, said at a recent campaign rally: "When the president of Taiwan can enter the White House, the political goal we are pursuing will have been achieved."

Visits from Taiwan’s leaders to the U.S. are always highly controversial, and a visit to the White House from a senior Taiwanese leader would violate the norms of the unofficial U.S.-Taiwan relationship, which is governed by its "one China policy."

Lai will visit Paraguay (a country that formally recognizes Taiwan) in August, and Taiwan’s foreign ministry said on Monday that he will transit the U.S. on that trip. China said Thursday that stopping Lai’s visit to the U.S. is a “priority”.

Speaking to the Financial Times in a report published Thursday (July 20), former White House China official Dennis Wilder said the White House administration is “very anxious” about Lai, and that he placed the administration in a difficult position.

Wilder said the White House wants to avoid a situation similar to that caused by previous Taiwan presidential visits to the U.S., which caused significant friction in U.S.-China relations. He added the administration was “hamstrung” because any public opposition from the White House to a possible Lai visit could cause further support for Taiwan from U.S. congress, which has broad bi-partisan support for Taiwan related issues.

“What can they actually use for leverage with a politician like Lai?” Wilder said.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese government officials familiar with the situation said that Washington had enquired about Lai’s comments, but that the issue had since been resolved.

However, a senior White House official told the Financial Times that there had been no contact with Lai, his campaign, or his office on any issue, and would not comment on the remarks.

Reports of Washington’s unease regarding Lai’s politics first surfaced in January. In a separate Financial Times report, former Trump White House national security official Ivan Kanapathy said: “There are concerns in Washington about his experience and that of his advisers on international or cross-Strait affairs.”

Kanapathy added that it was “difficult to be reassured when you hear (Lai) declare that Taiwan is an independent nation.”

U.S. concerns regarding DPP presidential candidates are not exclusive to Lai, and the Obama administration also expressed concerns about Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) then candidacy for the Taiwan presidency in 2011.

The U.S. official said, again to the Financial Times, that while Tsai knew she should “avoid gratuitous provocations” of China, it was “far from clear … that she and her advisers fully appreciate the depth of (China’s) mistrust of her motives and DPP aspirations."

However, during Tsai’s presidency, she has been welcomed by senior U.S. politicians, including meetings with two separate U.S. House Speakers in both Taiwan and the U.S.