JP Morgan’s Dimon visits Taiwan to meet with staff and clients – source

Dimon’s visit to Taipei, which has housed JPMorgan Bank since 1970, comes amid heightened tensions over the democratically-ruled island, which Beijing considers its own territory. Taiwan strongly rejects China’s claim to sovereignty.

But China, which frowns on visits by foreign government officials to Taiwan, generally ignores visits by non-political businessmen.

“The Chinese are more concerned about the US government’s dealings with Taiwan than private companies and banks doing business with,” said Andrew Collier, director of Orient Capital Research in Hong Kong.

“As long as executives don’t make political statements, they can pass the Chinese litmus test.”

During Dimon’s trip, he will meet with the bank’s staff and clients, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plans are not public, and no meetings with Taiwanese officials are planned.

A JP Morgan spokeswoman declined to comment.

Bloomberg first reported the development.

As part of his Asian tour, Dimon will also visit South Korea after his visit to Taiwan, the source said.

JP Morgan has more than 500 employees in Taiwan, where the firm provides corporate and investment banking and commercial banking services, as well as manages government pension assets.

Wall Street executives rarely make trips to Taiwan because of their limited business presence, and the island is a major semiconductor producer, in contrast to frequent visits by American engineers. Nvidia Corp Chief Executive Jensen Huang visited the island this week for a trade show, as did Intel Corp Chief Executive Pat Kelsinger last month.

Dimon’s last public visit to Taipei was in 2014 when he met then-President Ma Ying-jeou. But President Tsai Ing-wen has no plans to meet with Dimon, her office said on Friday.

An official from the island’s financial watchdog said there were no plans to meet with Dimon.

Dimon, who has strengthened the bank’s presence in China in recent years, met this week with Shanghai Communist Party Secretary Chen Jinning, who he expects the bank to encourage investment in the business center.

Dimon prefers a “disconnect” between East and West rather than disconnection, he said at the three-day JPMorgan Global China Summit in the city on Wednesday. He added that the US and China need “genuine engagement” on security and trade issues.