Coronavirus outbreak brings US and Taiwan closer together
- Ongoing tensions between Washington and Beijing have prompted the US to promise to cooperate with the island for ‘years to come’
- Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHO has been another source of tension and the US is backing its efforts to join more international organisations
The US has used the Covid-19 pandemic to shore up its relations with Taiwan despite strong protests from mainland China.
On Friday the de facto US embassy in Taiwan promised “more cooperation with Taiwan for years to come” in a move observers interpreted as a way of highlighting these closer ties.
Although the US does not have formal diplomatic relations with the island, the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 allows it to maintain economic and other significant relations and commits it to supplying arms to help it defend itself.
In a Facebook post on Friday to mark the 41st anniversary of the law, the American Institute in Taipei said: “April 10 is the anniversary of the TRA signing. The Act is the foundation of the ongoing and thriving US-Taiwan partnership.”