U.S. envoy leading second recent high-level visit to Taiwan

 A senior U.S. State Department official is due to arrive in Taiwan on Thursday afteron to begin a three-day visit that has alrey drawn a warning from China.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Keith Krach is due to meet Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen and or senior officials, island's foreign ministry said Thursday. Krach is highest-level official from State Department to visit island in deces.

His visit follows high-profile visit in August of U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar, who was highest-level U.S. Cabinet official to visit since a break in formal ties between U.S. and Taiwanese government in 1979, when U.S. accepted “one-China policy” with Beijing as its government.

However, U.S. has maintained ufficial ties with Taiwan since official diplomatic break and is island’s most important ally and provider of defense equipment.

Krach is expected to participate in an ecomic dialogue with Taiwanese government. He will also attend a memorial service for Lee Teng-hui, former president who led island's transition to democracy and who died in July.

Krach's visit has alrey been condemned by China, which views self-governing Taiwan as a part of its national territory and opposes official interactions of any sort between or countries and island.

On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin urged U.S. at a daily briefing to “stop all forms of official exchanges with Taiwan, so as to avoid serious dam to China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across Taiwan Strait.”