China’s foreign ministry announced that it had lodged a “stern representation” with the United States to complain about the recent visit to Taiwan by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb.
“China firmly opposes official U.S. exchanges with the Taiwan region in any form and under any name, and has made serious démarches to the U.S. on Indiana Governor Holcomb’s visit to Taiwan,” the ministry said in a statement released through state-owned media outlet Global Times.
Holcomb is the third U.S. political figure or delegation to visit Taiwan this month.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims that Taiwan is a rogue province that must be united with the mainland. However, democratic Taiwan has been self-governed since 1949 and has never been controlled by the CCP.
“I’m energized to spend this week building new relationships, reinforcing longtime ones, and strengthening key sector partnerships with Taiwan and South Korea.”
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said Holcomb would also meet with representatives from Taiwanese semiconductor companies and sign memorandums of understanding on various trade and technology issues.
Taiwan is home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which makes more than half of the world’s semiconductor chips. Such chips, used in everything from automobiles to missiles, are vital to the modern economy.
Holcomb met with Tsai and several other officials on Aug. 22, defying pressure from China’s communist regime to discourage such trips.
The effort was followed by the release of a CCP white paper, which vowed that the regime would use whatever force necessary to destroy Taiwan’s “radical separatist elements”—a term it often uses to refer to Taiwan’s president and other lawmakers.
For its part, Taiwanese leadership has remained resolute against the threats and maintained that it is willing to defend itself against all threats.