US health secretary, Alex Azar, will travel to Taiwan this month

US China

The trip will mark the highest-level visit by a US official to Taiwan since 1979 and marks a further break from convention in US-China ties in general.

China has come out to voice their displeasure over the situation and have now said that they will be taking firm countermeasures in response.

As much as this looks to be another point of escalation in tensions between the US and China, it still isn't leading to any material breakdown in the relationship as both countries are still willing to play their respective parts in this whole "show".

From what we have seen with these "strong countermeasures" and "tit-for-tat" response by both sides recently, it has all been child's play and there is no reason to believe that this time around it will be any different.