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US environment protection chief to visit Taiwan in December
- Andrew Wheeler will travel to the self-ruled island for bilateral discussions, Taiwanese premier says
- It will be the third trip by a senior American official since August
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The cabinet-level head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, Andrew Wheeler, will visit Taiwan, the island’s premier said on Friday, in what will be the third visit by a senior US official since August.
Beijing, which claims democratically run Taiwan as its own territory, reacted with fury when the US Health Secretary Alex Azar visited Taipei in August, followed by undersecretary of state Keith Krach in September, sending fighter jets near the island each time.
The Donald Trump administration has ramped up support for Taiwan, including with new arms sales, alarming Beijing.
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Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang told reporters that Taiwan-US interactions had been increasing.
“At the invitation of Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency will come to Taiwan, to have bilateral discussions on international cooperation on environmental protection issues,” Su said.
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The trip will “be further beneficial to the relationship between the two countries”, Su added.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said Wu had extended the invitation to Wheeler last year, and that it would announce details at an “appropriate time”.
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