TAIPEI, Reuters – Taiwan’s Chief Trade Negotiator John Deng will continue talks with the United States about bilateral trade Wednesday. The island government made the announcement after Deng was excluded from a new major U.S. Economic Plan for the Asia Pacific.

Deng has strongly pushed for Taiwan to be added to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework or IPEF. This is part of an effort by the U.S. to counter Beijing’s economic and military influence in the region.

Taiwan wasn’t included in the United States announcement of details about its creation last week. Taipei expressed “regret” over the decision.

The Taiwan Cabinet spokesperson Lo Pingcheng informed reporters that Deng would hold online discussions with Sarah Bianchi, one U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai’s aides, about Taiwan-U.S. trading issues.

Lo will add more details later.

Tai and Deng met virtualy in April. Deng expressed Taiwan’s wish to rejoin the IPEF.

China is not part of this grouping. It was founded by the United States and Australia.

Taiwan’s largest international donor and arms supplier is the United States, which Taipei is keen to demonstrate, in particular, how important it regards their trade relationships regarding the vital supply of semiconductors.

China condemned U.S. Indo-Pacific efforts, claiming that the United States has created “exclusive clubs”.

China regards Taiwan as its territory and has no rights to any trappings of state. Chinese pressure leads to Taiwan’s exclusion from international organizations like the United Nations.