The United States and Taiwan have signed a trade agreement amid rising tensions with China.
It is the first deal under a framework for negotiations between Washington and Taipei known as the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade.
The Office of the US Trade Representative said the deal with the self-ruled island was signed on Thursday (Friday AEDT).
It comes amid increased Chinese efforts to intimidate Taiwan by flying fighter jets and bombers near the island, a global centre for high-tech industry. American, Australian and European politicians have visited Taiwan in a show of support for its elected government.
The Chinese foreign ministry accused Washington of violating agreements on the status of Taiwan, which split with the mainland in 1949 after a civil war. The United States has no official relations with Taiwan but has extensive informal ties and multibillion-dollar annual trade.
“The United States should stop any form of official exchanges with Taiwan, refrain from negotiating agreements with Taiwan that have sovereign connotations or official nature and refrain from sending wrong signals to the ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist forces,” said a ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, ahead of the signing.
Taiwan never has been part of the People’s Republic of China, but the mainland’s ruling Communist Party says the island is obliged to unite with China, by force if necessary. Beijing has threatened to attack if Taiwan declares formal independence or delays talks on unification.
American and Taiwanese officials say the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade will increase trade by simplifying customs, investment and other rules.
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Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to address a critical defence and security conference in Singapore on Friday.
He will give the keynote address at the 20th Shangri-La Dialogue and will focus on managing regional competition and on what the strategic contest between the US and Beijing means for the rest of the Asia-Pacific.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is scheduled to address the dialogue on Saturday, while his Chinese counterpart. Li Shangfu will speak at the gathering on Sunday.
Beijing said there would be no bilateral meeting between the pair in Singapore.
Earlier this week, the US military said a Chinese fighter jet conducted an “unnecessarily aggressive manoeuvre” during an intercept of a US spy plane in international airspace over the South China Sea last month.
The Chinese J-16 fighter cut directly in front of the nose of the US RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft on May 26, forcing the US plane to fly through the wake turbulence of the intercepting aircraft.
– With Associated Press, CNN
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