US Undersecretary of State to visit Taiwan for an economic dialogue
US Undersecretary of State Keith Krach is scheduled to visit Taiwan today to host the US-Taiwan Economic and Commercial Dialogue, a move that has enraged mainland China.
The talks follow an August 31 announcement from the American Institute in Taiwan that the US and Taiwan will launch the “Economic and Commercial Dialogue,” a new project seeking to strengthen economic ties between the two states. According to Taiwan’s economic minister, dialogue topics will include semiconductors and 5G technology, along with strategies for tackling joint challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.
Upon visiting Taiwan, Krach will become the second high-level US official to visit the island nation in the past two months. The US has also recently declassified six Reagan-era security assurances given to Taiwan in a show of further support for Taipei.
Strengthened economic ties between Washington and Taipei will come at the expense of ever-worsening Sino-US relations, which have already suffered in 2020 amidst—most recently—disputes over banning Chinese apps like internet giant ByteDance’s Tiktok. Expect the Trump administration to make further cuts to supply chain dependency on China by encouraging the shift of East Asia-based production to Taiwan in key sectors, such as semiconductor manufacturing.
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