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Taiwan Foreign Minister Held High-Level Meeting in Washington
Senior U.S. and Taiwan diplomats met amid heightened security concerns
TAIPEI—Taiwan’s foreign minister traveled to the U.S. this week for an unusual high-level meeting with senior American officials in the Washington area.
Photos and video from Taiwan’s state-run Central News Agency showed Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and National Security Council chief Wellington Koo waving as they left the Washington headquarters of the American Institute in Taiwan, along with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and other U.S. officials.
The meeting Tuesday focused on national-security issues and lasted for seven hours, CNA reported.
Some media and political pundits in Taipei said the meeting represented a notable step in Taiwan’s relationship with the U.S. given the semiofficial venue of the institute—the U.S. office that handles Taiwan affairs, located in Arlington, Va., just a few miles from the White House.
“This is the first time we’ve seen the foreign minister travel in a public way,” said Vincent Chao, a member of the Taipei City Council who previously headed the political division at Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Washington. “These sorts of exchanges were kept low profile because of unwillingness to offend China.”
Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu told reporters Thursday that “Taiwan and the U.S. are maintaining close and smooth communication on issues of mutual concern.” Mr. Wu’s visit is among the signs of deepening ties between Washington and Taipei, he said.
The American Institute in Taiwan declined to comment.
China Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin warned Wednesday that official meetings between the U.S. and Taiwan would increase tensions in the region and blamed the U.S. for using Taiwan to contain China’s rise.
Beijing has long successfully worked to isolate Taiwan diplomatically. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine has heightened concerns that the self-governing island could come under attack, prompting the U.S. and its allies to step up demonstrations of support for Taipei.
The U.S. has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan. But the two sides maintain interests offices in each other’s capitals and have hosted a number of lower-level delegations of lawmakers or former officials.
The U.S. also supplies Taiwan with arms, and President Biden has repeatedly said the U.S. would come to Taiwan’s aid in an attack, though officially U.S. policy is to keep its intentions ambiguous.
California Democrat Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last summer while she was still speaker of the House. The trip drew condemnation from Beijing, which launched days of military exercises simulating a blockade of the island.
Recently elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said he also wants to visit Taiwan. In response to warnings from Beijing not to repeat Mrs. Pelosi’s trip, Mr. McCarthy told reporters earlier this month, “I don’t think China can tell me where I can go at any time, at any place.”
On Tuesday, a congressional delegation led by Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) met Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. The delegation included Tony Gonzales (R., Texas), Jake Auchincloss (D., Mass.) and Jonathan Jackson (D., Ill.)
In a separate trip, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R., Wis.)—chairman of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party—traveled to Taiwan earlier this month to meet Ms. Tsai and other senior government officials.
Michael Chase, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, also was set to visit Taiwan recently. He joined the meeting in Washington, CNA reported.
Taiwan Foreign Minister Held High-Level Meeting in Washington
Visit comes as the war in Ukraine has heightened concerns that the self-governing island could come under attack, prompting the U.S. to step up demonstrations of support.
www.wsj.com
@beijingwalker thoughts?
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