China Protests Indiana Governor’s Taiwan Visit

China has lodged fresh protests with the United States over the visit to Taiwan by the governor of Indiana, a government spokesperson said on Monday.

A delegation led by Gov. Eric Holcomb landed in Taipei over the weekend as part of what his office has termed an “economic development trip,” making him the latest U.S. official to visit the island since China stepped up its military drills in response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s high-profile stopover earlier in August.

“The Taiwan question has always been the most important and the most sensitive issue at the heart of China-U.S. relations,” said the statement carried by the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s website on Monday. “The Chinese side firmly opposes official U.S. exchanges with the Taiwan region in any form and under any name.”

“We have made serious démarches to the U.S. side on Indiana Governor Holcomb’s visit to Taiwan,” according to the spokesperson, who called for an end to “all forms of official interactions with the Taiwan region.”

Taipei rejects Beijing’s claim of sovereignty over Taiwan, which considers itself a functionally independent state. Washington has no formal diplomatic relations with Taipei and takes no position on sovereignty over Taiwan, but the U.S. expects political differences across the Taiwan Strait to be resolved peacefully, “consistent with the wishes and best interests of the people on Taiwan.”

At the time of Pelosi’s travel, the White House countered China’s warnings by arguing the U.S. executive branch has no authority over Congress. There was no suggestion that Holcomb’s travel was related to that of the speaker’s—the Republican governor accepted Taiwan‘s invitation in May, his office told Newsweek—while China generally doesn’t oppose U.S.-Taiwan exchanges of a cultural or economic nature.

Beijing’s complaints about “official interactions,” however, appeared to be a reference to the governor’s meetings with Taiwan’s senior elected leaders, including President Tsai Ing-wen, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua.

Holcomb, who succeeded former Vice President Vice Mike Pence as governor of Indiana, signed an agreement to deepen trade ties between his state and Taiwan, he tweeted on Monday.

Reached on Tuesday, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou said Taipei didn’t make comparisons between Holcomb’s trip and the visits of other U.S. officials.

“In principle, we welcome all friends from the U.S. and around the globe who wish to visit Taiwan, to show support, to deepen our cooperation and enhance our friendly ties,” Ou said.

Taiwan’s president, meanwhile, said in prepared remarks to Holcomb’s delegation: “Taiwan-U.S. relations have seen much progress in recent years. I have received many prominent U.S. political figures from both sides of the aisle, as well as friends from think tanks and academic circles.”

“Recently, this has included delegations led by House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, and now includes our dear friends from Indiana. These visits have had a profound impression on us. The broad spectrum of staunch U.S. support for Taiwan is enabling us to further deepen Taiwan-U.S. cooperation across a range of fields,” Tsai said.

Indianapolis and Taipei have been sister cities for 44 years, since 1978, Holcomb said.

His delegation, which concluded cooperation agreements between Indiana’s Purdue University and top Taiwanese institutions, was due for meetings in South Korea starting on Thursday.