The US mission in Taiwan announced today that a high-level diplomat will visit the territory, after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump recently reiterated criticism of Taipei.
In a statement, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said that Ingrid Larson, director general of the AIT's Washington office, will be in Taiwan until November 1, as part of the "strong US commitment to Taiwan and to advance the growing US-Taiwan partnership".
"During her visit to Taiwan, [Larson] will discuss continued collaboration between the US and Taiwan on issues of mutual interest, such as regional security, mutually beneficial trade and investment, and educational, cultural and people-to-people ties," the agency said.
The visit comes after Trump reiterated attacks on Taiwan on Friday, saying that the island had stolen the US semiconductor industry and that it should pay Washington for its defence, criticisms he had already expressed last July in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek.
"Taiwan stole our chip industry. They want protection, but they won't pay us for it. The mafia makes us pay money," Trump said during a conversation with a well-known American presenter, in which he also proposed imposing tariffs on companies, such as Taiwan's TSMC, that are building semiconductor factories in the United States.
Following his comments, shares in TSMC, the world's largest chipmaker, lost 4.3% of their value on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday and a further 1.9% on the Taipei Stock Exchange in mid-session today.
Taiwan's Prime Minister Cho Jung-tai tried to downplay the impact of Trump's statements, assuring that relations between Taipei and Washington "have been very positive" in recent years.
"Major parties in the United States have a high level of consensus on the perception and future of U.S.-Taiwan relations," he said, adding that bilateral relations "will continue to deepen and strengthen" after the November 5 presidential election.
Taiwan, an autonomous island since 1949 and considered by China to be a renegade province, has an economy heavily dependent on the export of technology products, especially semiconductors.
The United States is one of the main buyers of these chips and is also the largest supplier of weapons to Taiwan, which could defend it in the event of a conflict with the People's Republic of China, which considers the territory its province, despite operating as a sovereign political entity.
