The sources, who include a Taiwanese official familiar with the situation, said the official was Rear Admiral Michael Studeman. He noted that the United States and Taiwan had close intelligence exchanges on the threat from China's military. Bonnie Glaser, a regional security expert at Washington's Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said it would not be unprecedented for a US flag officer to visit Taipei. The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but is the democratic island's most important international backer and supplier of arms. Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang said last week the cabinet-level head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, Andrew Wheeler, will visit Taiwan.

Source: bd News24 November 23, 2020 01:30 UTC