TAIPEI (Reuters) -The governor of Arizona was due to arrive in Taiwan on Tuesday, the island’s foreign ministry said, the latest in a succession of officials from the United States to visit, defying pressure from China for such trips not to take place.
During his three-day visit, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican, will meet with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and with companies in the semiconductor industry.
The world’s largest contract chip maker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), is building a $12 billion plant in the U.S. state of Arizona.
Taiwan has hosted a succession of officials from the United States since a visit by a delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi early this month, which infuriated China.
Beijing responded to Pelosi’s visit with military drills close to the island that included launches of ballistic missiles over Taipei for the first time, and by cutting some lines of dialogue with Washington.
China claims Taiwan as its territory despite the strong objections of the democratically-elected government in Taipei, which rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Alex Richardson and Tomasz Janowski)
