(Newser) – In the same week, China's top diplomat cautioned Washington that its support for Taiwan is taking it down the "wrong road." US Trade Representative Katherine Tai met with Taiwanese Minister Without Portfolio John Deng to discuss ways to strengthen the countries' economic ties.
Bloomberg's Most ReadsThe US Trade Representative said in an emailed statement Friday that Tai and Deng "discussed ways to enhance the economic partnership, achieve mutual trade priorities based on shared principles, and encourage innovation and inclusive economic growth for their workers and enterprises." They met in Bangkok on the fringes of an ASEAN trade ministers' meeting.
According to the USTR statement, the two "ordered their teams to seek tangible measures to enhance the US-Taiwan trade and investment partnership, and to meet again in the coming weeks to discuss the path forward." Since Tai became the trade representative in March 2021, they had met almost at least twice, including last month.
President Joe Biden is on a five-day trip to Asia, where he hopes to enhance engagement with regional partners in the face of China's economic and security threats. More than 50 US senators wrote to Biden earlier this week, pressing him to include Taiwan as a partner in the proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework that his administration intends to roll out during the trip.
Deng said in a phone interview Friday that the Taiwanese delegation reiterated Taipei's long-held ambition of establishing a free-trade pact with the United States.
"The meeting demonstrated the United States' strong commitment to finding a road ahead in a very tangible way to develop our economic connections," he said, describing the discussion as "extremely constructive."
Read more: Biden Attempts to Win Over Asian Countries Wary of Upsetting China
According to a statement on the Defense Ministry's website in Taipei, 14 Chinese military aircraft went into Taiwan's air defense identification zone on Friday. Beijing frequently exploits these invasions to express its unhappiness with official Taiwan-US exchanges.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, the US has increased its support for Taiwan, with a delegation of senior senators, including Republican Lindsey Graham, visiting the island last month. China retaliated by holding air and naval exercises around the island.
Read more: China Warns US of Forming 'Dangerous Situation' Over Taiwan
The notion of enabling Taiwan to join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the Biden administration's primary attempt to offset China's influence in Asia, has been suggested by figures on both sides of the Pacific.
The two sides did not discuss the framework at their meeting on Friday because the USTR is not yet authorized to discuss Taiwan's participation, according to Deng.
Yang Jiechi, Beijing's top diplomat, told National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan last week that if the US "insists on playing the Taiwan card and goes further and further down the wrong road, it would inevitably take the situation to a perilous point."
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