Europe Asia News

The report stated, "Wellington Koo had planned to visit the Washington area for military talks with the Pentagon’s No. 3 official, Elbridge Colby. However, the US canceled the meeting at the last minute. Some US officials feared that allowing the visit could derail US-China trade negotiations and harm Trump’s efforts to hold a summit with Xi Jinping."

According to the newspaper’s sources, the US administration prefers to hold talks not with the defense minister but at a lower level, and new dates for the meeting are currently under discussion.

This week, the Financial Times also reported that the White House did not allow Taiwan’s Chief of General Staff Lai Qingde to stop in New York on his way to Paraguay, Guatemala, and Belize due to objections from Beijing. As a result, Lai decided to postpone the trip at least until the end of the year.

Beijing does not recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty, sees it as its own province, and insists on the global application of the “One China Policy.” While the US officially adheres to this principle, in practice it maintains active contact with Taiwan and regularly supplies it with weapons.