HONOLULU — Taiwan’s president Lai Ching-te arrived Saturday in Hawaii to begin a two-day transit in the U.S. as part of a trip to the South Pacific, his first since assuming office.

The stopover in Hawaii and one planned for the territory of Guam have drawn fierce criticism from Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and objects to official exchanges between the self-ruled democracy and the U.S., the island’s biggest backer and military provider.

There were no high-ranking U.S. or Hawaii state officials to greet Lai at the Honolulu hotel where supporters cheered in Mandarin, some waving Taiwanese flags.

Lai is on a weeklong trip to visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau — three diplomatic allies of the self-governed island in the Pacific. Though Taiwan retains strong contacts with dozens of other nations, it has only 12 formal diplomatic allies.

“I want to use the values of democracy, peace and prosperity to continue to expand our cooperation with our allies, to deepen our partnership and let the world see Taiwan not just as a model of democracy, but a vital power in promoting the world’s peace and stability, and prosperous development,” Lai said at Taoyuan International Airport ahead of his departure.

It is unclear whether Lai will meet with any members of the incoming U.S. administration during his transit.

President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg in July that Taiwan should pay for its defense. But the island has purchased billions of dollars of defense weaponry from the U.S.

Trump evaded answering whether he would defend the island from Chinese military action.

While the U.S. is obligated to help the island defend itself under the Taiwan Relations Act, it has maintained a position of strategic ambiguity over whether it would ever get involved if Taiwan were to be invaded by China.

A second Trump administration is expected to test U.S.-China relations even more than the Republican’s first term.

Taiwan is one of the main sources of tension in the bilateral relationship.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday if the U.S. wanted to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, it should handle the Taiwan issue “with utmost caution, clearly opposing Taiwan independence and supporting China’s peaceful reunification.”