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American envoy keen for Taiwan-Palau-US cooperation as China protests against official ties
- US ambassador’s trip has practical and symbolic importance, head of Washington’s de facto embassy says
- Trip shows Biden will not be as conservative in dealing with Beijing as some thought, observers say
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The first US official to visit Taiwan under the Biden administration has held meetings with the Taipei’s foreign minister and the head of the de facto American embassy amid warnings from Beijing about crossing “red lines” in relations with the self-ruled island.
US ambassador to Palau John Hennessey-Niland is in Taiwan as part of a delegation led by Surangel Whipps, the president of the Micronesian nation, to launch a “travel bubble” between the two islands on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Hennessey-Niland said he was confident that ties between Taiwan and Palau would strengthen further, and he looked forward to discussing other opportunities for cooperation between Taiwan, Palau and the United States.
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“As the US ambassador to Palau there has been no higher priority than working with our partners and friends, in Palau and across the Pacific, to help keep people safe and to give people hope after a difficult 12 months due to the [Covid-19] virus,” he said, after talks with Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and Brent Christensen, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the US de facto embassy in Taipei.
Hennessey-Niland’s visit came as a surprise to some who thought US President Joe Biden would be more conservative than his predecessor Donald Trump in contacts with Taiwan as he sought a less confrontational approach to relations with Beijing.
Christensen said Hennessey-Niland’s trip was significant in practical and symbolic terms.
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