Two U.S. Navy ships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait this week in the first such mission since President Donald Trump took office last month, drawing an angry reaction from China, which said the mission increased security risks.

Two U.S. navy ships passed through the Taiwan Strait from Monday to Wednesday, the first such transit under the new Trump administration. The action triggered a burst of Chinese military activity in the area.

It is a coincidence that Taiwan’s deputy economy minister Cynthia Kiang arrives in Washington on Tuesday, just as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s board meets for the first time in Arizona. But the goal of Kiang’s talks with US officials is very similar to that of board meeting at TSMC’s huge new Arizona chip complex: to minimise the threat posed by tariffs planned by US President Donald Trump.