A photo of President Lai Ching-da wearing an Aloha shirt and waving was featured on the front page of Honolulu Star-Advisor, the most widely circulated newspaper in Hawaii. Under the headline, Taiwan's president begins first Pacific tour in Hawaii. See what's on the front page. Yesterday governor of Hawaii

Josh Green welcomed President Lai Ching-da at the airport in person. To the left on page A8 you can see the entire page A8 spotlights Taiwan President

Lai Ching-da's trip to Hawaii with many details on the trip in the text.

President Lai Ching-da's trip to Hawaii attracted much attention from local media. He was also greeted by the highest level leader of Hawaii. Still that did not satisfy some members of the opposition party. One lawmaker questioned why the president did not stop over in the contiguous U.S. instead.

Chen Shui-bian, Ma Ying-jeou, Tsai Ing-wen, all of them stopped over in the U.S. within three months after taking office and on the contiguous United States too. Were there no major events in Paraguay in the past six months? Couldn't Lai visit during this time as soon as possible as a new president? The closer the president is to the political center of the U.S., meaning the contiguous United States, the closer our relationship too. If you look at the formalities, it's clear that

Taiwan-U.S. relations are rock-solid. I believe in the future President Lai will again visit allies in Central and South America and will stop over on the U.S.

mainland. Critics say it's regrettable the president did not stop over in the contiguous United States and even cast skepticism onto Lai Ching-da and the U.S.

That's really beyond the pale. The president's Pacific trip comes amid heightening U.S.-China rivalry in the Indo-Pacific. The ruling party says that by focusing the trip in the region, Lai not only strengthens Taiwan's diplomatic relations but also displays its commitment to regional peace.