The United States and Taiwan will hold the second round of economic talks next week.

Washington, November. (Reuters) – The US State Department said on Friday that the United States and Taiwan will hold the second session of the economic dialogue that began last year next week.

The announcement comes just days after a virtual meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. After the meeting, Ji warned that Taiwan independence supporters are “playing with fire.” Read more

On Monday, US Secretary of State for Economic Development, Energy, and Environment Jose Fernandez will chair the second US-Taiwan Partnership for Economic Prosperity Dialogue, according to a statement from the State Department.

The dialogue will be held under the auspices of the American Institute of Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representation Office (TECRO) in the US, which act as unofficial embassies for each.

“Our partnership is based on strong two-way trade and investment, people-to-people relations, common security of freedom and common democratic values,” the statement said.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said the virtual meeting will be hosted by Economy Minister Wang Mei-hwa and Science and Technology Minister Wu Chung-chung.

Taiwan hopes this dialogue will eventually lead to a free trade agreement with the United States, which was lauded last year. A step forward is the opening session.

As part of the growing US engagement with Taipei under former President Donald Trump, the Biden administration has continued to attack Beijing for claiming that Taiwan is its own.

The two sides held lengthy negotiations on the Trade and Investment Structure Agreement in July, and said that Taiwan hopes to sign the FTA one day. Read more

Last year, the Taiwanese government lifted a major hurdle to the agreement with Washington and lifted a ban on imports of pork containing the slimming additive rhodopamine, but a referendum on the issue is scheduled for December.

Taiwan is a major maker of semiconductors, and its shortages have shaken supply chains around the world and hit automakers hard, with Washington speeding production of Taiwanese chips.

David Bronstrom reports; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Edited by Leslie Adler

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