US Health Secretary Alex Azar starts Taiwan visit and says he will ‘convey Donald Trump’s support for health leadership’ amid coronavirus pandemic
- Azar becomes highest level US official to visit island since Washington switched diplomatic recognition in 1979
- Beijing has reacted angrily to trip and has threatened retaliation
US Secretary of Health Alex Azar arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, making him the highest ranking American official to visit the island since 1979.
The visit is also the most high-profile since the Taiwan Travel Act, which authorises higher level exchanges between US and Taiwanese officials, was passed in 2018 and Azar is due to meet President Tsai Ing-wen in the next couple of days.
“I look forward to conveying President Trump’s support for Taiwan’s global health leadership and underscoring our shared belief that free and democratic societies are the best model for protecting and promoting health,” Azar said in a statement released before his arrival.
“Taiwan has been a model of transparency and cooperation in global health during the Covid-19 pandemic and long before it,” said the health secretary, whose country has recorded by far the largest number of coronavirus cases and deaths – more than 5 million cases and 160,000 deaths as of Sunday.
Upon his arrival at Songshan airport on a US government aircraft, Azar, who was wearing a face mask, was welcomed by Taiwan deputy foreign minister Tien Chung-kwang.