TAIPEI: Taiwan and the United States will hold another round of in-person trade talks this month, the island's government said on Thursday, discussions that China opposes. The Jan. 14-17 meetings will be held in Taipei under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade unveiled in June, days after the Biden administration excluded Taiwan from its Asia-focused economic plan designed to counter China's growing influence.

Taiwan and the United States will hold another round of in-person trade talks this month, the island's government said on Thursday, discussions that China opposes.

The Jan. 14-17 meetings will be held in Taipei under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade unveiled in June, days after the Biden administration excluded Taiwan from its Asia-focused economic plan designed to counter China's growing influence. China, which views self-governing Taiwan as its own territory, has said it "firmly" opposes the new trade talks. Taiwan strongly rejects China's sovereignty claims, and President Tsai Ing-wen has repeatedly said Taiwan is an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name.

Taiwan's delegation will include deputy trade representative Yang Jen-ni and officials from several government agencies, Taiwan's cabinet said in a statement on Thursday. Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Terry McCartin will lead the U.S. delegation, the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. embassy on the island, said in a statement on Wednesday.

In November, the two sides concluded two days of "productive" trade talks in New York, according to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Taiwan has long pushed for a broad free trade deal with the United States, its most important international backer and foreign arms supplier even in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.

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