Johnson and Lai spoke on Wednesday, according to VOA, which cited unidentified people. It added it was the first direct conversation between the two since Lai took office in May.

The presidential office in Taipei didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

The call comes while Lai is on a trip to Pacific nations that has included stops in Guam and Hawaii. China condemned the US for allowing the transit in Hawaii, raising the possibility that the People’s Liberation Army will hold more military drills around Taiwan soon.

China wants to bring Taiwan under its control, by force if necessary. It also opposes nations, like the US, from having contact with officials from the hub for advanced semiconductor production.

The PLA has held major military drills around Taiwan twice since Lai took office in May. It said the war games in October were a warning against “separatist acts” after Lai had given a speech in which he said Taipei would stand up to Beijing’s challenges.

The PLA also held exercises twice around Taiwan because former president Tsai Ing-wen met with two of Johnson’s predecessors, Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy.

Lai is now in Guam, where the US has a major airbase and last month deployed a nuclear-powered attack submarine.

Lai has visited Guam’s legislature and met the territory’s governor, Lou Leon Guerrero. Previous Taiwan presidents have stopped in Guam as part of trips abroad.

The trip is Lai’s first as president, and the stop in Guan helps build on the ties that have been developing between the two sides in recent years.

Guam’s legislature has passed several resolutions in support of Taipei’s participation of international organisations, activity China works to curtail, and Taiwan reopened a representative office there in 2021.