The United States Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar, will make an official visit to Taiwan in what will be the highest-level visit by a member of the U.S. government to Taiwan in six years.

According to the Wall Street Journal, quoting a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services, Azar will lead a delegation to Taiwan.

Trump support for Taiwan

Azar stated that his trip was intended to show President Donald Trump's support for Taiwan and its leadership in containing the Covid-19 outbreak:

"I look forward to conveying President Trump’s support for Taiwan’s global health leadership and underscoring our shared belief that free and democratic societies are the best model for protecting and promoting health."

Taiwan has been successful in keeping case numbers low, with just 474 cases and seven deaths out of 24 million citizens, as of Aug. 4.

WSJ was not certain if Azar would meet Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, although Reuters, which cited a statement by the Taiwan Foreign Ministry, said that the two would meet.

Likely disapproval from Beijing

However, it is likely that this visit will draw the ire of Beijing, which considers Taiwan as part of its territory. Because of this, previous high-level visits by U.S. officials to Taiwan have been limited.

The last such comparable visit was the then-Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Gina McCarthy, under the Obama Administration in 2014.

The Trump Administration recently sought the support of allies such as Australia, France and Germany to ask the World Health Organisation (WHO) to invite a Taiwanese delegation to the World Health Assembly in the United Nations.

However, Trump himself has criticised the WHO, and announced that the U.S. will "terminate" its relationship with the organisation and pull its funding.

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Top image from Getty.