The US is sending a delegation to Taiwan next week for trade talks with Taipei, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said on Wednesday, in a move sure to anger Beijing.
The US and Taiwan agreed to hold formal trade talks last year, and the first round was held in New York in November. Since Washington and Taiwan don’t have official relations, the negotiations are being held under the auspice of their respective de facto embassies, the American Institute in Taiwan, and the Taipei Economic Cultural Representative Office in the US.
But the US delegation is being led by Terry McCartin, the assistant US trade representative for China affairs, meaning the effort is being carried out by President Biden’s Executive Office. The USTR said the meetings in Taiwan would be attended by officials from several other government agencies.
According to The South China Post, Yang Jen-ni, Taiwan’s deputy trade representative, will lead the Taiwanese delegation, which will include dozens of officials from other departments.
China is against contact between high-level US and Taiwanese government officials as it views such cooperation as the US moving away from the one-China policy. Beijing is especially opposed to high-level US officials visiting Taiwan and typically reacts by launching military drills around the island.
The trade talks are an effort by the US to reduce economic dependence on China, and the overall increase in US contacts with Taiwan is part of the Biden administration’s strategy to counter China’s influence in the region. The USTR has dubbed the trade talks the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade and said they are intended to “develop concrete ways to deepen the economic and trade relationship.”
The USTR said the talks will focus on multiple areas, including “reaching agreements on trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, strong anti-corruption standards, enhancing trade between our small and medium enterprises, deepening agriculture trade, removing discriminatory barriers to trade, digital trade, robust labor and environmental standards, as well as ways to address distortive practices of state-owned enterprises and non-market policies and practices.”
Another major factor in the talks is the fact that Taiwan is the world’s largest producer of advanced semiconductors, and the Biden administration is trying to entice Taiwanese companies to open more facilities inside the US. The US has targeted China’s chip industry with major sanctions in recent months, which marks a major shift in US trade policy toward the country.
Are we, the US looking for problems? Has it been too long since the last World War? It is one thing, when someone attacks you, it is another thing to walk right into it….
How is having trade talks with Taiwan looking for problems? Just because China does not like Taiwan does not mean we cannot trade with Taiwan. China is not a big fan of South Korea or Japan. Should we stop our trading with those two countries?
It is about more than trade KH, it is about domination and who has the bigger slice of the pie in the high tech arena, amongst other things. Situations like this touch on many other areas…
And how does that give China right to complain about US trade relationship with Taiwan? The US has been trading with Taiwan for years. Nothing new here except China complaining as an effort to deflect from their internal problems.
There are times that US policies cause problems, but this is not one of those.
Pretty clear in the article:
OK. How does US wanting better trade with Taiwan and less trade with China “looking for a problem” as Donna claims? US has a right to pick it trade partners.
One China policy.
And how does that change the one China policy? Nothing has changed. The US has been trading with Taiwan for a long time. Sorry but the US gets to choose it trade partners not China.
The trade talks are an effort by the US to reduce economic dependence
on China, and the overall increase in US contacts with Taiwan is part
of the Biden administration’s strategy to counter China’s influence in the region.
Yes, we are hoping for a new provoked “unprovoked war”.
Why?
Because we have idiots at the helm.
And Russia and China have geniuses at their helm? Here the difference, we get choose our idiots, they do not.
Right.
We have a managed democracy. We get to choose among those pre-screened. Voting for anyone at the fed level doesn’t result in policy that the masses want. I hope that helps you.
Managed democracy….the government controls elections so that the people can exercise all their rights without truly changing public policy. Under managed democracy, the state’s continuous use of propaganda techniques prevents the electorate from having a significant impact on policy.
Princeton Study: U.S. No Longer An Actual Democracy
Using data drawn from over 1,800 different policy initiatives from 1981 to 2002, the two conclude that rich, well-connected individuals on the political scene now steer the direction of the country, regardless of or even against the will of the majority of voters.
“The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.”
China has some big time internal problems to deal with. So how does China leaders handle them, they complain about US having trade talks with Taiwan. That is not going to made Covid go away in China.