Taiwan and
the United States have signed a five-year agreement to boost co-operation on
health, technology and security.

In a first
high-level meeting between the two countries under a new economic dialogue, Taiwan’s
deputy minister of economic affairs, Chen Chernchyi and US undersecretary of
state, Keith Krach, and other senior government officials met on Friday, The
Guardian reported.

However, the
agreement, which comes as the US goes through a contentious presidential
transition and in the wake of escalating tensions with China, did not include a
trade deal with Taiwan, despite strengthening ties between the two countries
under the Donald Trump administration.

The
memorandum of association was signed with the aim of building on historic ties
and “shared democratic values”, with the two sides forming working groups on science
and technology, global health security, supply chains, 5G and telecommunications
security, women’s economic empowerment, investment and infrastructure
cooperation.

Representatives
from both countries also ironed out details on specific commitments on Saturday,
and announced aspirations for the future of the bilateral partnership, although
Taiwan hopes the meetings will yield something concrete like a trade deal.

A trade
deal with Taiwan has bipartisan support in the US Congress, but President-elect
Joe Biden has not announced his policy on China yet. There are concerns in
Taiwan that Biden may seek to re-engage China as he is seen as an advocate of
multilateral solutions.

However, Taiwan’s
foreign minister Joseph Wu on Saturday said it was “premature” to rule out
support from Biden on a trade deal, saying his team currently has its hands
full with the transition.

“I don’t
think they already have a pre-conclusion on a (bilateral trade agreement) or a (free
trade agreement) which says it’s not what they want to pursue. I think the
bipartisan support on Capitol Hill is still very strong and I think it will
continue, and we will work hard under the [existing bilateral] framework with
the new administration,” The Guardian quoted Wu as saying.