US official to visit Taiwan this weekend to attend memorial service of Lee Teng-hui

A senior US State Department official will visit Taiwan for a memorial service of former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui on September 19, Saturday. According to the official press release, Secretary for Economic Affairs Keith Krach is our to arrive in Taiwan on Thursday afternoon to begin a three-day visit that had already drawn a warning from China. Krach will be meeting President Tsai Ing-wen and other Taiwanese officials and he will also be the highest-level official from the State Department to visit the island in decades. 

The press statement read, “Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach will travel to Taiwan to attend the memorial service for former President Lee Teng-hui on September 19, 2020. The United States honors President Lee’s legacy by continuing our strong bonds with Taiwan and its vibrant democracy through shared political and economic values”. 

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China condemns Krach’s visit 

Krach’s visit follows the high-profile visit in August of US Health Secretary Alex Azar, who was the highest-level US Cabinet official to visit since a break in formal ties between the US and Taiwanese government in 1979 when the US accepted the ‘one-China policy’ with Beijing as its government. Krach’s trip also comes after US diplomat for East Asia, David Stilwell reportedly said last month that Washington would bolster ties with Taiwan by establishing new bilateral economic dialogue. 

Krach will be participating in an economic dialogue with the Taiwanese government. He will also attend the memorial service for Taiwan’s former President, who led the island’s transition to democracy and who died in July. Meanwhile, Krach’s trip has already been condemned by Beijing, as they view self-governing Taiwan as a part of its national territory and oppose official interaction of any sort between other countries and the island. Earlier this week, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin had urged the US to stop all forms of official exchanges with Taiwan, so as to avoid serious damage to China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. 

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