VOA Exclusive: US House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks with Taiwan president

FILE - Speaker of the House Mike Johnson talks on his phone at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 1, 2023. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, right, receives a flower lei from members of the Taiwanese American community at the Kahala Hotel and Resort in Honolulu, Hawaii, Nov. 30, 2024.

The United States has dismissed Chinese objections to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's stopovers in Hawaii and Guam during a Pacific tour, reaffirming that transits through the U.S. by Taiwan’s democratically elected leaders are routine and consistent with long-standing bipartisan U.S. policy.