U.S. Health Chief Alex Azar To Visit Taiwan Amid The Pandemic Likely Displeasing China
According to the latest news, Alex Azar, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services will reportedly visit Taiwan, the island which China claims to be its own, in the coming few days which is supposedly the highest-level visit by a U.S. official in four decades. The news which is likely to anger China came from his office on Tuesday.
According to a separate statement released by Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry, Azan is most likely to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen, during his visit.
China considers Taiwan as the most sensitive issue in Sino-U.S. ties and Azar’s visit shall probably only inflame the already poor Beijing-Washington relations.
During a recent statement released by Azar, he claimed that Taiwan has been a model of transparency and cooperation in global health during the difficult time of COVIS-19 pandemic and also long before it. He said that right now he is looking forward to conveying President Trump’s support for Taiwan’s global health leadership and also underscoring their shared belie, that free and democratic societies are the best models for protecting and promoting health he added.
Moreover, his department has described the trip as historic and that Azar shall be accompanied by Mitchell Wolfe who is the Chief Medical Officer of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with other members of the administration.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the visit marks the U.S’s firm support for Taiwan and also shows the closeness of their relationship.
Moreover, in the past days, Taiwan has been quite grateful for U.S. support for its request to get certain meaningful access to the World Health Organization during the pandemic time.
Due to Chinese objections, Taiwan is not a member of the organization as Beijing considers the island merely one of China’s provinces.
The United States just like most of the countries do not hold any formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan as they had ditched Taipei in favor of Beijing in the year 1979. But it remains as its main arms supplier and also the strongest backer on the international stage.
It was Gina McCarthy, the then-head of the Environmental Protection Agency, who was the last U.S. Cabinet-level official to visit the island in the year 2014. Her position was technically lower in comparison to Azar’s.
Taiwan has received much recognition and appreciation for its response to the corona virus pandemic as they have successfully managed to keep the number of cases as low as possible due to their effective and early prevention steps.
On the other hand, the United States has more corona virus cases, and the number of death counts that any other country.
It was in April when Azar had held a teleconference with Taiwan Health Minister Chen Shih-Chung whom he shall also meet with during his trip.
The U.S. President, Donald Trump had signed a new law in March that emphasized increased support for Taiwan’s international role. However, China seems to feel threatened and hints unspecified payback in return.
I am Darryl Broadhurst and i give investors an insight into the most recent news hitting the “Technology” sector in Wall Street. I have been an independent financial adviser for over 11 years in the city and in recent years turned my experience in finance and passion for journalism into a full time role. I perform analysis of Companies and publicizes valuable information for shareholder community.
