U.S. Lands Military Aircraft in Taiwan

Taiwan news outlets reported this morning that a US Air Force C-146A transport aircraft landed for a brief period at Taipei’s Songshan Airport. The C-146A is a German-built light twin turboprop aircraft with a capacity of 25-30 passengers, which is operated on behalf of US Special Operations Command. The South China Morning Post, citing airport officials, reported that the US plane had flown from the US Kadena air base in Okinawa and was on the ground at Songshan for about 30 minutes. SCMP also reports that the landing came in the context of the change of directorship at the American Institute in Taiwan (the de facto US diplomatic mission on the island), though it did not transport either the outgoing director or his replacement, who had already arrived on Monday (July 12). Otherwise, the use of an American military aircraft for this mission remains unexplained.