In a background briefing for the press today, a unnamed “senior administration official” said the Biden administration will send an “unofficial delegation” to Taiwan after that country’s presidential elections on Jan. 13. Details of the visit have not been finalized. After detailing U.S. policy toward Taiwan and China unity, and Taiwan elections, the official said, “We also intend to send an unofficial delegation after the Taiwan election. We’re not in a position to confirm the timing of the delegation or the participants, in part because contrary to press reports, some of this is still being decided. We will have more to share in the coming days,” she said.
She added: “First, given our unofficial relationship with Taiwan, we often send these high-level unofficial delegations of former government officials to Taipei. We have a decades-long tradition of doing so; this is nothing new…. It is, of course, consistent with our One China policy, consistent with the status quo, and timed after the election to ensure that we are not endorsing one candidate or one party over the other.”
