U.S., Taiwan team up amid heightened tensions with China

美•타이완 연일 '중국 깎아내리기'...中 "촌극에 불과"When the first senior U.S. government official in decades visited Taiwan this week,... it sharply raised already spiky relations between Washington and Beijing.What could this visit mean for the U.S., China and Taiwan going forward?Our Lee Seung-jae takes a closer look.U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar's visit to Taipei this week,.. was the highest-level American visit to Taiwan in decades.However,... the visit also indicates the importance of Taiwan amid the deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing.Azar's visit is considered a diplomatic coup for Taiwan,... and an opportunity for Taipei to showcase its widely praised response to COVID-19,... an achievement it boasts despite efforts by China to diplomatically isolate the island.The visit is considered by China as another provocation by the U.S.,... especially at the most volatile time in their relationship in decades.China sees interactions between Taiwan and the U.S. as a challenge to its sovereignty and in defiance of its threats to unify the island with mainland China by force.For the U.S.,... the visit was a chance to take a jab at China."I believe it is no exaggeration to say that if this virus had emerged in a place like Taiwan or the United States, it might have been snuffed out easily rapidly reported to public health authorities, who would have shared what they knew with health professionals and with the general public."The U.S. and Taiwan also have another thing in common,... their opposition to the World Health Organization.The U.S. recently decided to end all funding to the UN health agency,... while Taiwan has long been angry about being snubbed by both the WHO and China.Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.