"I landed in Taipei to kick off an economic development trip in Taiwan & South Korea," Holcomb tweeted.
He said that it would be his second visit to South Korea in the professional capacity, adding that he was "proud to be the first governor to visit Taiwan since before the pandemic."
Speaking with Sputnik, Bi Dianlong, a Chinese expert on cross-Strait relations, said that the visits by American politicians to Taiwan reflect how incompetent the Joe Biden administration is..
Commenting on Holcomb's unannounced visit to Taiper, Bi said: "This is the third 'wave' of visits to Taiwan by US politicians in recent times. To sum it up in one word, it is 'chaos' reflecting the incompetence of the Biden administration and his team, which has led to contradictions and confusion in US policy. Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb is a member of the Republican Party. His party is now like a flock of dragons without a leader. They all want to push Trump out, so there's so much confusion among the Republicans, which especially intensified after the [FBI] searches at the Trump residence. Beyond that, Republicans are chasing profits."
The expert continued by saying that after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, Taiwanese semiconductor company TSMC became the Republicans' target.
"They hope to relocate TSMC's main development projects to the US, to develop ties with Taiwan in their political and financial interests. Mainland China's reaction to Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan provided a possible model for its pressure on Taiwanese authorities. This level of pressure will not be used during Governor Eric Holcomb's visit to Taiwan, as the level of his visit falls short of the significance of Speaker Pelosi's trip," he explained.
At the same time, he said that the US and Taiwan "can only guess" as to what kind of sanctions China will introduce.
"Meanwhile, the sword of Damocles of mainland China will hang over the Taiwan Strait. The authorities in the US and Taiwan can only guess what kind of punishment they will face. This indicates that China holds the initiative in its own hands. The US wants to play the Taiwan card, but mainland China does not pay attention to the US 'war of attrition'. At the same time, China needs to beware that the United States will use a variety of methods to stir up nationalist sentiments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Mainland China must strike back according to its own situation and in its own way. The visit of American politicians to Taiwan is spontaneous, which reflects the mediocrity of the Biden administration," Bi concluded.
Tensions near Taiwan remain high as China is opposed to any direct foreign official contacts with the island that it considers its sovereign territory.
Earlier this week, China's Ministry of Defense slammed the visit of a US congressional delegation to Taiwan as violating the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The delegation arrived in Taiwan two weeks after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial visit to Taipei, which seriously worsened US-China relations. Beijing considers Taiwan, which has been governed independently since breaking from mainland China in 1949, its sovereign territory, saying that it will eventually reunify with the mainland under the "one country, two systems" model. Although officially the US adheres to the One China Policy, it has long maintained unofficial relations with Taipei, including arms supplies to the island.