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The highest-ranking US political representative to visit Taiwan in four decades landed in Taipei on Sunday. Alex Azar, Secretary of Health, heads the most important delegation that the United States has sent to Taiwan since 1979, the year in which it stopped recognizing the sovereignty of the territory. This is a substantial gesture at a time when relations with China are experiencing unprecedented confrontation.
During his stay, Azar will hold meetings with the president, Tsai Ing-wen, and with the Foreign Minister, Jaushieh Joseph Wu, who highlighted the visit as “a testimony of mutual trust and the fluid dialogue between the United States and Taiwan ( ...). Both governments will continue to constantly improve this cooperative association in the global arena to safeguard the values of democracy, freedom and human rights.
The Health Secretary will also talk with his Taiwanese counterpart, Chen Shih-chung, as the pandemic will be one of the main topics on the agenda. "This trip represents the recognition of Taiwan's success in the fight against covid-19," said a senior US official in statements collected by the AFP agency. Despite its geographic proximity and ties to mainland China, Taiwan has consistently kept the virus under control, registering just seven fatalities and fewer than 500 infected to date.
The visit has caused the irritation of the Chinese government. Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin questioned the trip as "a threat to peace." The US Department of Health, for its part, noted that the trip has "the support of the president for global leadership in health issues" of the territory.
Taiwan is the point where everything could blow up. China has never renounced the unification by force of what it considers a rogue province, while US law forces the country to defend the island against a hypothetical continental invasion. It is the "most sensitive issue in Sino-US relations," as Wang acknowledged.
This entourage is the latest movement in an escalation of hostilities, which in recent days has led the US Administration to impose a veto against the popular WeChat and TikTok phone applications and to sanction 11 senior Hong Kong officials for undermining the sovereignty of the territory. The week before, both countries ordered the respective closure of a foreign consulate: that of the United States in Chengdu by that of China in Houston.
The next opportunity for provocation might not be far off. In the days to come, a state funeral will take place in Taiwan for former President Lee Teng-hui, considered the father of its democracy. The position the US chooses to represent the country will indicate the extent to which Taiwan may become the center of a growing enmity.