The White House will send an unofficial delegation to attend next week’s inauguration of Taiwan’s president-elect, Lai Ching-te.
The representatives will reportedly include former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Brookings Institute associate Richard Bush, former Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese, and Director of the American Institute in Taiwan Laura Rosenberger.
Lai, the island nation’s current vice president, is replacing the term-limited Tsai Ing-wen.
Officials in Beijing have described the incoming leader as a "dangerous separatist," rhetoric that is in line with their long-standing policy of considering the democratic country a Chinese province in disunion.
“The elections in Taiwan are the affairs of a region in China. China firmly opposes the U.S. having any form of official interaction with Taiwan and interfering in Taiwan affairs in any way or under any pretext,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, told Radio Free Asia when asked about the matter.
The Biden administration has told reporters that the visit is in line with past practices and does not represent a change to U.S. policy in the region.
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