Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and National Security Council head Wellington Koo held lengthy talks with US officials on Tuesday. Both countries are concerned about the military threat posed by China, which is threatening to annex the democratic island nation. According to the Taiwanese news agency CNA, the safety deliberations lasted seven hours.
The Financial Times first reported on the unofficial, annual communication channel between Taiwan and the USA two years ago, but according to experts it has existed for 25 years. Both governments do not officially comment on the format. At the entrance to the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) in Virginia outside the US capital waved However, Wu and Koo smiled at reporters on Tuesday, suggesting that the public perception of the deepened security ties is quite right for both sides. AIT, which has two offices in the East Asian country, is the de facto US embassy in Taiwan. Both countries maintain unofficial diplomatic relations.
Confidence in the US has increased in Taiwan
While US President Joe Biden gave a speech on the strength of democracy in Warsaw after his visit to Kiev, the Taiwanese delegation was received by his Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, East Asia Department Head Daniel Kritenbrink and Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer.
The US has left open whether it would defend the country against a Chinese invasion. However, Biden has publicly affirmed this four times. Confidence in the United States has recently increased significantly among Taiwan’s population. In a current survey According to the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation, 42.8 percent of respondents expected America to militarily support Taiwan against China – an increase of 8.3 percent compared to the same poll last year.
Vice Secretary of Defense for China Issues Michael Chase traveled to Taiwan last Friday. This was only the second visit by such a senior US Defense Department official to the island nation since Washington diplomatically recognized Beijing instead of Taipei in 1979. The People’s Republic, which has never ruled Taiwan, expressed anger at the recent contacts.
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