An unofficial delegation of retired US officials — former US senator Chris Dodd, and former US deputy secretaries of state James Steinberg and Richard Armitage — arrived on Wednesday for talks with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and senior Taiwanese officials. The visit came after China on Monday dispatched a record 25 military airplanes into Taiwan’s southwestern air defense identification zone, in a significant upping of the ante.
Officials from Washington and Taipei clearly went to a lot of trouble to ensure that the delegation’s three-day visit was conducted in as low key a manner as possible. It was kept secret until just a few hours before the delegation, traveling in a small unmarked private jet, touched down at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) on Wednesday afternoon.