Arizona opens Taiwanese economic office despite Chinese pressure

PHOENIX -- Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and Taiwanese leaders opened an economic and cultural office Monday to aid Taiwanese businesses and citizens in the region, despite pressure from the Chinese government to block it.

Taiwanese authorities have said the new Phoenix office — their 14th in the United States — will promote collaboration in technology, especially in semiconductor manufacturing, and better serve a growing number of Taiwanese migrants in the city.

After the plans for the office were announced in July, Hobbs received two letters from China’s consulate general in Los Angeles asking her to object to the proposal, according to documents the governor’s office shared with The Associated Press.

In a July 3 letter, the Chinese authority called the governor to “refute such an attempt by the Taiwan authorities and stop any political gimmicks to harm the friendship and cooperation between China and the State of Arizona.” The stance was reiterated in an Aug. 21 letter.

The letters were first reported by Phoenix radio station KJZZ.

Hobbs welcomed Arizona’s ties with Taiwan at Monday’s opening.

“Every Arizona elected official should show the courage necessary to support the partnership between Arizona and Taiwan,” Hobbs said. “As our economic partnership grows, we are mobilizing every available resource to support Taiwanese companies expanding here in Arizona.”

Beijing claims the island as a breakaway province inseparable from China, while Taiwan considers itself separate from the Chinese mainland and has its own government. Scholars say that local-level collaborations with the Chinese government and Taiwan have become more politicized as U.S.-China relations have deteriorated over the years.

“China firmly opposes official interactions of any form between China’s Taiwan region and the U.S., including its federal and state governments,” Liu Chang, a spokesperson for China’s Embassy in the U.S., said in a statement on Monday.

Taiwan has been increasing its economic footprint in Arizona, with advanced chipmaker Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, pledging $100 billion to expand its operation in northern Phoenix. That brings its total investment in the city to $265 billion, the largest foreign direct investment in U.S. history.

Around 500 Taiwanese engineers are working to ramp up production at TSMC in Arizona, according to Jason Hsu, a former lawmaker in Taiwan and a senior fellow at the public policy think tank Hudson Institute.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego also said the city is seeing a sort of “baby boom” in its Taiwanese communities, with several labor and delivery rooms even launching Mandarin language programs.

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Tang reported from Washington.