President Joe Biden has ordered a delegation of former senior defense and security officials to visit Taiwan on Monday, a senior official has confirmed. The visit will be a sign of support for the small island, which has grown weary over an imminent attack by China following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Newsmax reported that the visit will be led by former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, a retired Navy admiral who served as the top U.S. military officer under the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations.
He will be joined by the Bush administration's former deputy national security advisor Meghan O'Sullivan, and former Obama administration undersecretary of defense Michele Flournoy, the Biden administration official, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, confirmed.
The visit comes after Taiwan showed concern that China may make a move on the island while the Western world is grappling with the sudden Russian invasion of Ukraine. Beijing has long claimed that the democratically governed island is theirs and has vowed to bring it under Chinese control.
Joining the former top defense officials in Taiwan are two former National Security Council senior directors for Asia, Mike Green and Evan Medeiros, Reuters reported. The goal of the trip to Taiwan is to "demonstrate [the U.S.'] continued robust support for Taiwan." The delegation is set to arrive in Taiwan on Tuesday afternoon and will stay through Wednesday evening.
The former top defense officials plan to meet Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng and other senior officials. Taiwan's presidential office confirmed the visit, as well as the delegates' meeting with President Tsai, adding that its timing after Russia invaded Ukraine shows that the ties between the U.S. and China are "rock solid."
Taiwan also confirmed last week that former U.S. Secretary of State for the Trump administration, Mike Pompeo will visit Taiwan to meet with President Tsai on March 2 to 5. The Biden administration refused to comment on Pompeo's visit as he is now a private citizen.
As for Mullen and the delegation, the Biden administration senior official said, "The selection of these five individuals sends an important signal about the bipartisan U.S. commitment to Taiwan and its democracy, and demonstrates that the Biden administration's broader commitment to Taiwan remains rock solid."
The Biden administration senior official added that the U.S. vows to "maintain the capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security or the social or economic system of the people of Taiwan."
The former top defense officials' visit to Taiwan comes after a total of nine Chinese aircraft were recorded flying near the island in January, including J-16 fighters and one Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft that flew near the northeast of the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands on the tip of the South China Sea.
On Saturday, the USS Ralph Johnson, a Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, traversed northbound through the Taiwan Strait, causing Chinese defense officials to call it a "provocative" move by the U.S.
