Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña said on 14 July that his country expects to host Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te in about 30 days. Paraguay is Taiwan’s only formal diplomatic partner in South America and one of just 12 worldwide, so the visit was seen in Taipei as an important affirmation of dwindling international support. Because commercial routes require refuelling in North America, Lai’s itinerary included brief transits through New York and another U.S. city—a practice Washington has routinely allowed Taiwanese leaders. However, people familiar with the matter told Reuters and the Financial Times that the Trump administration, eager to keep recently-revived trade negotiations with Beijing on track, debated the request and ultimately refused permission for the New York stopover after China objected. Following the U.S. decision, multiple sources said Lai would postpone the entire Latin American tour, which was to take him to Paraguay, Guatemala and Belize. Bloomberg reported that Trump advisers feared the transit could derail an anticipated leaders’ summit with China’s Xi Jinping. Reuters added that Taipei is now looking at rescheduling the trip later in the year once domestic typhoon-recovery efforts and tariff discussions with Washington ease. Taiwan’s foreign ministry publicly denied that Lai had been ‘blocked’, saying only that the president has no overseas travel plans in the near term. The episode highlights the delicate balance the United States is attempting to strike between cultivating ties with the self-ruled island and managing a tense economic relationship with Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory and condemns any form of official contact.