As tensions with China grow, the United States and Taiwan are due to sign a new trade agreement on Thursday.

It will be the first deal reached under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade, a framework for talks between Washington and Taipei.

The statement comes ahead of a high-level global security gathering this weekend in Singapore.

The US-China relationship has gotten increasingly strained in recent years.

The agreement will be signed in Washington on Thursday morning, US time, according to Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations.

Sarah Bianchi, Deputy United States Trade Representative, is expected to attend the event.

It will be the first deal inked under the framework of the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade, which began last year.

The framework aspires to boost Washington-Taipei economic ties and open Taiwan to greater US exports.

Beijing has condemned the economic negotiations, as it has any high-level engagement between the United States and Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory.

A Short Guide to China and Taiwan
The United States and Taiwan have announced formal trade talks.
The agreement is set to be signed ahead of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue defense forum, which starts on Friday.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu are expected to attend the event in Singapore.

The Pentagon announced earlier this week that Beijing had rebuffed Washington’s offer for the two officials to meet.

General Austin told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday after meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada that China’s move was “unfortunate.”

Gen Austin went on to say that it was critical for countries with “significant capabilities” to communicate with one another in order to “manage crises and prevent things from spiraling out of control unnecessarily.”

Taiwan-China relations worsened severely during a visit to the island by then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August.

Ms. Pelosi’s visit was deemed “extremely dangerous” by Beijing.

China considers the self-ruled island to be part of its territory and insists on unifying it with the mainland, using force if necessary.

Taiwan, on the other hand, perceives itself as separate from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and freely elected officials.