TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is preparing several possible itineraries for an official overseas trip by President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said Wednesday (July 10).

Visits to diplomatic allies were a common practice for a new president, Lin told reporters. Any overseas trip would be Lai’s first since his inauguration on May 20.

The foreign minister said no decisions had been made yet, but several different itineraries were under consideration, per UDN. The Presidential Office was in charge of announcing any related decisions, Lin said.

As to the possibility of presidential stopovers in the United States, the minister said that as 2024 was an election year, Taiwan would evaluate and plan how to achieve its foreign policy aims without causing unnecessary reactions.

Several of Taiwan’s 12 official diplomatic allies were located in the Caribbean and Latin America, making stopovers in the U.S. more likely. Previous presidents would make stopovers in different U.S. cities during the flights to and from visits to allies.