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ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE – The United States seeks to deepen its economic partnership with Taiwan even though it has been excluded from President Joe Biden’s new Asian economic initiative, a top official said.
“Taiwan will not be part of the launch,” said Jake Sullivan, Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Proprietary (IPEF), U.S. National Security Adviser, on Sunday as he traveled to Japan with President Joe Biden.
“However, we want to deepen our economic partnership with Taiwan, including on high-tech issues, including semiconductors and the supply chain.”
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Self-governing Taiwan, which China claims, has expressed interest in joining the talks.
During his first visit to Japan since taking office, Biden will attend meetings with the leaders of Japan, India and Australia at the summit of the countries’ “quad” grouping. Regional security issues, including China’s response to Taiwan, are expected to be discussed.
“We do not want to see a unilateral change in the status quo and we certainly do not want to see military aggression. And we want this message to come not only from us, but from many allies and partners in the region and beyond, “Sullivan told reporters at Air Force One.
(Reporting by Trevor Honeycut and Rocky Swift; Editing by William Mallard and Lisa Schumacher)