The White House has sent a high-level delegation of former officials to Taiwan to send a message of reassurance and to remind China not to step up pressure on Taipei while the US is focused on the war in Ukraine.
Michael Mullen, former chair of the US joint chiefs of staff, is leading the delegation, which includes Michèle Flournoy, a former top Pentagon official, according to two people familiar with the situation. In addition to the show of support for Taipei, the delegation will urge Taiwan to intensify long-needed efforts to bolster its own defences.
The other members of the delegation are Evan Medeiros, former top White House Asia adviser to Barack Obama, and Mike Green, who held the same position for George W Bush, in addition to Meghan O’Sullivan, a former Bush official. The group will arrive in Taiwan on Tuesday.
The White House did not comment on the development, which was first reported by Reuters.
The decision to send a delegation comes amid concerns that Beijing might be emboldened by Russian aggression and attempt to take advantage of the American focus on Ukraine to boost pressure on Taiwan, over which China claims sovereignty.
Taipei and Washington do not have formal diplomatic relations but maintain close economic and security links.
“There’s a sense that it is a good idea to give Taiwan reassurance at this time,” said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the German Marshall Fund. “Sending a group of former senior officials now outside government is a good way to do that. It sends the right message in an unprovocative way”.
The Chinese military has significantly ramped up military activity around Taiwan over the past year, including sending increasingly large sorties of fighter jets, bombers and other warplanes into the country’s air defence identification zone. Last month, Qin Gang, China’s ambassador to the US, warned that the US and China could end up in “military conflict” if Taiwan moved closer to declaring independence and was “emboldened” by Washington.
Glaser said the delegation would give the US another opportunity to encourage Taiwan to implement defence reforms and strengthen its own deterrence, particularly as China studies the conflict in Ukraine to see what lessons could be drawn for any possible future attack on Taiwan.
US officials have been telling Taiwan for over a decade that it must boost its defence capabilities. President Tsai Ing-wen has given higher priority to defence than her predecessors, by boosting spending and regularly visiting troops, but US experts and many Taiwanese defence insiders say the efforts are insufficient.
US sends delegation of ex defence officials to Taiwan in show of support
Pinoy Variant