By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Aug. 11: US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the most senior official to visit Taiwan in four decades, met the country’s President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday, to offer “strong support” from President Donald Trump and laud the island’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s a true honour to be here to convey a message of strong support and friendship from President Trump to Taiwan,” Azar told the Taiwanese President.
The US Secretary also complimented Taiwan’s handling of the pandemic despite being geographically close to China where the virus originated. “Taiwan’s response to COVID-19 has been among the most successful in the world, and that is a tribute to the open, transparent, democratic nature of Taiwan’s society and culture,” he said.
The US official’s visit to “strengthen economic and public-health cooperation” with Taiwan is also seen as a move by the US to irk China, amid the souring ties between the two countries that has extended to trade, Hong Kong and the crackdown in Xinjiang, among others.
The meeting was condemned by China who claim the island to be their own and have displayed aggressive stance to “reintegrate” the territory. “China firmly opposes any official interactions between the US and Taiwan. This position is consistent and clear. China has made stern representations with the US side both in Beijing and in Washington,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said last week.
On the same day of the US official’s visit, Chinese air force jets briefly crossed over the mid-line of the Taiwan Strait and were tracked by Taiwanese missiles, Taiwan’s government said. Chinese J-11 and J-10 fighter aircrafts were tracked by land-based Taiwanese anti-aircraft missiles and were “driven out” by patrolling Taiwanese aircraft, the air force said in a statement on Monday.
