As Washington warns that Beijing will escalate its intimidation campaign against the liberal democracy, the Biden administration will deepen its trade ties with Taipei and undertake freedom-of-navigation drills through the Taiwan Strait.
The Tsai administration hailed the fresh trade negotiations as "a huge step forward," and John Deng, Taiwan's top trade negotiator, expressed his hope that they will result in the long-desired free trade agreement with the US.
According to Mr. Deng, the US discussions will also include strategies for preventing Beijing from using trade pressure against other countries including Taiwan, Lithuania, and Australia.
The trade minister declared in Taipei that the damage to the world economic and commercial order was significant.
Only a fortnight after Beijing banned Taiwanese cookies, fish, and fruit in an effort to penalize voters in agricultural areas who largely favor Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, new trade talks between the US and Taiwan were announced. These negotiations will begin in a few weeks.
Kurt Campbell, the Indo-Pacific Coordinator for the Biden administration, stated last Friday that American aircraft and ships would continue to "fly, sail, and operate where international law allows" in retaliation for what he described as Beijing's "provocative, destabilizing, and unprecedented" response to Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan on August 2.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Daniel Kritenbrink, stated on Thursday that the Biden administration anticipated a worsening of China's campaign of coercion in the coming months. According to Mr. Kritenbrink, "the pattern of pressure and coercion very likely will continue to increase."
He declared that the Biden administration would continue to help Taiwan by collaborating with friends and allies like Japan and Australia.
At the 20th congress of the Chinese Communist Party, which is anticipated to take place in November, Chinese leader Xi Jinping will officially be elected to an extraordinary third five-year term.
Only the third white paper on Taiwan has been published by Beijing in the People's Republic of China's 72-year history as of last week. The strategy statement outlined the Xi administration's conditions for achieving unification, discrediting the 23 million residents of Taiwan and reiterating long-standing threats to use force if necessary.