Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te is set to delay a diplomatically sensitive trip his team had floated to the Trump administration for August that would have included stops in the United States, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Such a trip was bound to infuriate Beijing at a time when US President Donald Trump is trying to negotiate a deal on trade with China. China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, a claim Taiwan rejects, and regularly denounces any shows of support for Taipei from Washington.

Taiwan's president reportedly canceled his trip after the U.S. denied him permission to stop over in New York en route to Central America.