Advertisement
‘Rock-solid support’: Taiwan hails American delegation as sign of ‘bipartisan consensus’ in US
- Visit by former military and security officials is a show of ‘commitment from the US for Taiwan’, says island’s foreign ministry
- Debate swirls over the lack of US ‘boots on the ground’ in Ukraine during Russia’s invasion and potential implications for Taiwan in a cross-strait conflict
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
99+
A group of former top American military and security officials has arrived in Taiwan on a US government plane for a whirlwind 30-hour visit amid fears Beijing might attack the island while the US is busy with the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Advertisement
The group was sent by the White House and landed at Taipei’s Songshan Airport late on Tuesday afternoon before being whisked away by a motorcade formed by the US de facto embassy in Taipei.
The delegation is led by Michael Mullen, a former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations.
Also in the delegation are former under secretary of defence for policy Michèle Flournoy, former White House deputy national security adviser Meghan O’Sullivan and Michael Green and Evan Medeiros, who both served as special assistants to the president and senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council.
The group, whose visit was only announced after the officials boarded the plane, arrived as debate grew on the island about whether the US would remain hands off in the event of a cross-strait conflict, given the US administration’s decision not to send troops to Ukraine.
Although the US has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Joe Biden has made clear the US will not put American troops in danger by sending forces to fight Russia in Ukraine.
Advertisement