Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) refused to confirm a local media report on Tuesday that said Taiwan and the United States would be holding a round of high-level meetings following a virtual summit on Monday between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping (???).
Citing cordial ties between both sides, MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (???) said Taipei and Washington maintain close relations and open bilateral communication channels, and regularly hold discussions on issues of common interest.
She would not comment on whether a high-level meeting would take place as reported by the Chinese-language Liberty Times, saying only that the ministry would not disclose concrete details regarding bilateral engagements in order to uphold good faith and mutual trust.
The Liberty Times report said Tuesday that the U.S. and Taiwan would be combining two annual bilateral meetings, the Political-Military Talk and the Defense Review Talk, into one meeting which would then be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, U.S. time.
The Taiwan side will be represented by Deputy Secretary-General of National Security Council, Hsu Szu-chien (???), and Deputy Defense Minister Po Horng-huei (???), the report quoted unidentified sources as saying.
The U.S. delegation will consist of Jessica Lewis, assistant secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner, it added.
The meeting will cover issues such as regional peace and stability, cross-Taiwan Strait relations, and possible arms sales to Taiwan, according to the report.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel