US and Taiwan to hold talks on Monday about forging closer economic ties
- The latest sign that President Joe Biden intends to continue developing closer ties with Taipei despite the rising tensions with Beijing
- It will be the second ‘US-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue’, with the first held in the final months of Donald Trump’s presidency
The US and Taiwanese governments will convene a formal dialogue on Monday meant to strengthen commercial and economic cooperation between Washington and Taipei, the State Department announced on Friday, sparking an angry response from Beijing’s US embassy.
“Our partnership is built on strong two-way trade and investment, people-to-people ties and in common defence of freedom and shared democratic values,” the State Department said.
At the first dialogue, held one year ago in the final months of the Donald Trump administration, the two sides signed a five-year memorandum of understanding and vowed to keep forging closer economic ties, but it was unclear at the time if Biden, then the president-elect, would continue to closely embrace Taipei.
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In April, Biden’s State Department announced a new policy to “encourage” engagement between American and Taiwanese government officials, a move made to bring Washington into compliance with the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020, which states that these ties “should be crafted with the intent to deepen and expand United States-Taiwan relations”.