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Taiwan President holds talks with unofficial US delegation
Tsai also told the delegation that Taiwan looks forward to resuming trade talks with the United States as soon as possible, Reuters reported Thursday.
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Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during a press conference at the presidential office as Vice President Chen Chien-jen looks on in Taipei on January 22, 2020. (Photo by Sam Yeh / AFP) (AFP/Sam Yeh)
T
aiwan President Tsai Ing-wen told a visiting delegation of former senior US officials on Thursday the Chinese military's activities have threatened regional peace and stability.
Tsai also told the delegation that Taiwan looks forward to resuming trade talks with the United States as soon as possible, Reuters reported Thursday.
Kyodo News reported that Tsai held talks with former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and two other members of an unofficial delegation dispatched by the US government amid heightened tensions between the United States and China over the self-ruled island.
The delegation's visit from Wednesday has rattled the Chinese government, which has considered it to be of official nature, leaving open the possibility that Beijing may take some action in response to it.
The delegation, which also includes former Senator Chris Dodd and former Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, is expected to convey to Taiwanese officials President Joe Biden's message about US engagement with the Chinese-claimed island.
Among the topics likely discussed at the talks at Tsai's office in Taipei was boosting bilateral cooperation. The delegation is also scheduled to hold talks with Premier Su Tseng-chang during its visit.
The visit is tied to the 42nd anniversary of the enactment of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, under which the United States supplies the island with arms and spare parts to enable it to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities, according to a senior US government official.
China has recently been increasing pressure on the island, which it regards as a renegade province awaiting reunification by force if necessary. Its repeated incursions into Taiwan's air defense identification zone and naval exercises in the nearby waters have heightened concerns in the United States about a possible Chinese invasion.
On Wednesday, Chinese maritime authorities announced a live fire drill from Thursday to Tuesday in the South China Sea near Taiwan, ordering ships to stay away from waters south of the Taiwan Strait off mainland China's Guangdong Province.
