Washington will also make clear that Taipei must avoid any provocative action that would compel Beijing to respond, even as it pressures Taiwan to increase its military spending, invest in more mobile coastal cruise missile systems and strengthen its military reserves, they told Congress on Thursday as quoted by The South China Morning Post.

“We are also taking steps to make sure that Taiwan is able to defend itself,” Jonathan Fritz, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for China, Mongolia and Taiwan coordination, was quoted as saying by the newspaper citing a “porcupine” approach that makes prohibitive the potential cost of any Chinese invasion.

The administration will also counter Chinese efforts to block Taiwan’s participation in the United Nations and other international organisations and its “poaching” of diplomatic allies, officials said in testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy, the newspaper reported.

Relationships between China and the US have touched new lows in recent years.

The two nations have exchanged barbs on several occasions on various issues including COVID-19.