U.S. Visit to Taiwan Begins, Adding to Rising China Tensions

Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar will arrive in Taiwan on Sunday for the highest-ranking visit by a U.S. official to the island in decades, a trip that stands to further worsen spiraling relations between the U.S. and China.

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

The U.S. official is expected to meet President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday morning, a person familiar with the arrangement said Sunday.

Taiwan has been a rare global success story in containing Covid-19, as the U.S. grapples with one of the world’s worst outbreaks. In keeping with the democratic island’s stringent anti-virus procedures, Azar’s delegation will abide by measures including testing negative for the illness before departure and again when arriving in Taiwan, undergoing mandatory daily temperature checks and wearing masks at all times.

The visit has drawn China’s ire as the U.S. challenges Beijing on a range of fronts, from the early handling 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 “firmly opposed” to official interactions between the U.S. and Taiwan and that it had “lodged stern representations” to American officials. He called Taiwan “the most important and sensitive issue in China-U.S. relations.”

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