The U.S. opened a de facto embassy in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, a move that strengthens ties with Taiwan but comes as trade tensions with China escalate.
American Institute of Taiwan (AIT) director Kin Moy told Reuters that the complex will be used as a representative office later in the summer.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce hailed the new complex during its unveiling event on Tuesday, saying it represented the close bond between the U.S. and Taiwan.
“We have faced many trials along this journey, but we have risen to the challenge at every turn, knowing that our shared commitment to democracy would see us through,” Royce said, according to Reuters.
The complex's opening marks the strengthening of diplomatic ties between Washington and Taiwan. The U.S. ended official diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979, but still provides its government with foreign arms.
Royce is the most senior State Department official to visit Taiwan since 2015.
However, the complex has drawn the ire of Beijing, which affirms that Taiwan is still a part of China.
“We urge the United States to scrupulously abide by its promises to China over the Taiwan issue, correct their wrong actions, and avoid damaging China-US relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters.
President Trump
Donald TrumpDemocrats defeat GOP effort to declare 'lost confidence' in Biden after Afghanistan withdrawal Prosecutors say Jan. 6 rioters committed roughly 1,000 assaults on federal officers Texas emerges as new battleground in abortion fight MORE has railed against China on trade and the two nations have threatened each other with multibillion-dollar tariffs, raising fears of a trade war.
Trump hit China for its taxes on American soybeans in a tweet earlier this month.
“China already charges a tax of 16% on soybeans. Canada has all sorts of trade barriers on our Agricultural products. Not acceptable!” the president wrote on Twitter. “The U.S. has made such bad trade deals over so many years that we can only WIN!”
