Taiwan’s navy chief to visit US: sources

DEFENSE CONCEPT: A US official said the two sides were trying to set up a meeting between Tang Hua and Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the head of US naval operations

Navy Commander Tang Hua (唐華) is to visit the US from next week to attend a military ceremony and discuss how to boost bilateral naval cooperation as China raises threats toward the nation, six people briefed on the trip said.

The security sources said that Tang would visit Hawaii, home of the US Indo-Pacific Command, for a Pacific Fleet change-of-command ceremony.

Three of them said that Tang was then expected to attend the April 8 to 10 Sea-Air-Space conference near Washington and that talks were under way to arrange a meeting with US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti.

The sources spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity given the trip’s sensitivity.

Two of the sources said that Tang’s visit is part of a US effort, called the Joint Island Defense Concept, to coordinate with Taiwan, Japan and others to counter China’s armed forces within the “first island chain” — a string enclosing China’s coastal seas that connects Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo, an island split between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

Taiwan and the US are trying to line up a Tang-Franchetti meeting, which has not been confirmed, said one source, a US official.

Taiwan’s navy and the Pentagon declined to comment.

The Chinese Ministry of Defense did not respond to a request for comment.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it firmly opposed “military collusion” between the US and Taiwan, and that Washington should “refrain from sending out any erroneous signal to the forces of secession for the independence of Taiwan.”

Unlike visits to the US by senior officials from allies such as Japan and the UK, conducted openly, those of Taiwanese officials, especially military, are kept low key and often not officially confirmed.

Washington and Taipei have had no official diplomatic or military ties since 1979, when the US switched recognition to Beijing, although the US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.

China has not renounced the use of force to take Taiwan.

Taiwan’s navy is dwarfed by that of China, which is adding nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers.

Under a modernization effort that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has overseen, Taiwan is developing its own submarines, the first unveiled last year.

Without fanfare, Taiwan and the US have expanded their military cooperation since Tsai took office in 2016, especially since China began ramping up military pressure over the past four years.

Beijing now regularly sends fighter jets over the median line of the Taiwan Strait that once served as an unofficial barrier.

Previous trips by senior Taiwanese officers to the US have included then-navy chief Lee Hsi-ming (李喜明) in 2015 and Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞), who last year attended a TaiwanUS defense industry conference in Virginia.

Taiwan typically holds annual security talks in the US, which neither government officially confirms. Last year they were attended by the minister of foreign affairs and the head of the National Security Council, Taiwanese media reported.

Tang on Tuesday accompanied Tsai to a naval base in Yilan County for a handover ceremony for two new Tuo Chiang-class corvette warships, which Taiwan’s navy calls “carrier killers” for their high maneuverability, stealthiness and anti-ship missiles.