The Pentagon’s high China official has arrived in Taiwan to fulfill with counterparts on the island, in response to a number of media shops. The reported go to is the primary high-level protection delegation despatched by Washington in a number of years, and comes at a time of hovering tensions with Beijing. 

Michael Chase, the deputy assistant secretary of protection for China, traveled to Taiwan on Friday following conferences in Mongolia, the Monetary Instances reported, citing 4 unnamed officers. The Pentagon refused to substantiate the go to, solely saying that America’s “help for, and protection relationship with, Taiwan stays aligned in opposition to the present menace posed by the Individuals’s Republic of China.”

“Our dedication to Taiwan is rock-solid and contributes to the upkeep of peace and stability throughout the Taiwan Strait and inside the area,” Pentagon spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Martin Meiners advised the outlet.

The journey was corroborated by two sources reached by Reuters in a while Friday, who mentioned the go to on situation of anonymity and provided no additional particulars in regards to the junket.

Requested to touch upon Chase’s purported journey, Taiwanese Protection Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng claimed he was “not very sure” that any go to would happen, however added that “those that are pleasant to us are very welcome.”

“I will not clarify the small print. I will not clarify till I get formal notification,” the minister stated.

Chase can be essentially the most senior US army official to journey to the island since 2019, when  Deputy Assistant Secretary of Protection for East Asia Heino Klinck met with Taiwanese officers for an additional quiet spherical of talks. He was the highest-level protection official to go to in some 40 years.

In keeping with the Protection Division, Chase beforehand labored as a senior political scientist for the RAND company, the place his analysis targeted on “Chinese language army modernization” and Taiwanese protection coverage, amongst different issues.

Tensions between the USA and Beijing have reached new heights during the last yr, with relations quickly deteriorating after then-US Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to Taiwan in August of 2022. Although China considers Taiwan a part of its personal sovereign territory and calls for that international nations hold no direct ties with the island, Washington has organized numerous conferences with Taiwanese officers and continues to greenlight arms gross sales for Taipei’s army.

On Thursday, Beijing imposed sanctions on US arms producers Lockheed Martin and Raytheon over weapons gross sales to Taiwan, simply someday after Chinese language officers vowed to take “countermeasures” in opposition to “US entities that undermine China’s sovereignty and safety.”

Hostilities between the 2 powers have continued to escalate since a Chinese language high-altitude balloon crossed into American airspace with out permission in late January, with US officers insisting the craft was used for espionage. Beijing has denied the cost, arguing the balloon was meant for scientific analysis and by chance drifted off track. 

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