U.S. visit to Taiwan begins, adding to growing China tensions

Photographer: Stefani Reynolds / Bloomberg

Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar will arrive in Taiwan on Sunday for the most-visited visit by a U.S. official to the island in decades, a trip that stands to further erode the spiral ties between the U.S. and China.

Azar is set to discuss the international response to the coronavirus, along with supplies of medical devices and technology, according to a statement last week from the Department of Health and Human Services. Azar said he would emphasize “our shared belief that free and democratic societies are the best model for protecting and promoting health.”

The U.S. official will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday morning, a person familiar with the scheme said Sunday.

Taiwan has been a rare worldwide success story in containing Covid-19, as the US struggles with one of the worst outbreaks in the world. In line with the Democratic island’s strict anti-virus procedures, the Azar delegation will follow up on measures including negative testing for the disease prior to departure and re-arrival on arrival in Taiwan, undergoing mandatory daily temperature checks and wearing masks only.

The visit drew China’s ire when the US challenged Beijing on a range of fronts, from early treatment of the virus to trade and a new security law for Hong Kong. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said last week that Beijing was “strongly opposed” to official US-Taiwan interactions and that it had “violent views” on U.S. officials. He called Taiwan “the most important and sensitive issue in relations between China and the United States.”

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