Schedule of Key U.S. State Department Officials Rarely Previews Official U.S.-Taiwan Talks

In a rare move, the State Department has published a schedule for U.S. military dialogue with Taiwan in a preview of the work schedule of key officials. Chinese official media called it an open U.S. provocation to China.

The State Department on Tuesday (Jan. 5, 2021) released the schedule of key officials for the following day, including arrangements for Assistant Secretary of State for Political and Military Affairs Cooper to attend a U.S.-Taiwan political-military dialogue by video message, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Washington time Wednesday.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency reports that officials from Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry will participate in the talks, which will cover topics including the regional situation, U.S.-Taiwan military cooperation and arms sales to Taiwan. The meeting is not the first military dialogue between the U.S. and Taiwan, but it is rare for the State Department to foreshadow official U.S.-Taiwan talks in the official schedule of key officials, the report said.

The U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and the two sides have been consistent in their approach to official interactions to avoid irritating Beijing.

Although the U.S. has formally foreshadowed this official meeting with Taiwan, Taiwan is still proceeding with caution. In response to media inquiries, Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokesman Ou Jiang’an said Wednesday, “With regard to the specific details of the Taiwan-U.S. dialogue channel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not at liberty to disclose them based on mutual trust and diplomatic tacit understanding between Taiwan and the United States. In the future, we will continue to build on the existing solid and good foundation and maintain close and deepened exchanges with the U.S. side on various cooperation issues.”

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Wednesday that the U.S. political and military dialogue with Taiwan officials is a serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three U.S.-China joint communiqués, which China firmly opposes and strongly condemns.

The official Chinese media Global Daily reported on the State Department’s public preview of the official U.S.-Taiwan talks under the headline “Provocations,” and quoted a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office as saying earlier that China firmly opposes any form of official contacts and military ties between Taiwan and the United States.