Taiwan’s invitation to White House internet event likely to trigger angry response to Beijing

Taiwanese minister Audrey Tang will join representatives from more than 50 nations at a virtual meeting to sign a pledge on digital development

The invitation is the latest example of the White House regularising its contacts with the island – a move Beijing is certain to bitterly oppose

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The US has been strengthening ties with Taiwan in recent years. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:42pm, 28 Apr 2022Updated: 7:45pm, 28 Apr 2022

Taiwan has been invited to attend a senior-level virtual meeting on the future of the internet hosted by the White House.

The invitation – a further sign of the US regularising its high-level official contacts with Taipei – is expected to once again provoke an angry response from Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory that has no right to develop formal ties with foreign governments.

The island’s digital minister Audrey Tang will attend the minister-level meeting to be hosted by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House on Thursday morning US time, according to Taiwan’s foreign ministry.

More than 50 countries will take part in the event during which they will jointly sign and launch the Declaration for the Future of the Internet, which the US State Department has described as a political commitment to advance an affirmative vision for the internet and digital technologies.

“Because of our achievements in promoting internet freedom and e-governance, we have been invited to the event and digital minister Audrey Tang will represent us to take part in the virtual meeting,” Douglas Hsu, the foreign ministry’s director of North American affairs, told a news conference in Taipei on Thursday.

Taiwan’s digital minister Audrey Tang will represent the island. Photo: AFP

Hsu said both the US and Taiwan will provide detailed information to the public after the meeting, which will be live-streamed on the White House’s website.