US pursues ways to raise level of meetings with ROC: official

Testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Kurt M. Campbell said that although the U.S.-Taiwan relationship is, by definition, unofficial, it has been bolstered by regular consultations at senior levels by both civilian and military representatives.

“And we are actively exploring ways to raise the level of our meetings with Taiwan,” said Campbell in his testimony in the committee's hearing on “Why Taiwan Matters.”

For example, Campbell said, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides met with Taiwan's vice foreign minister on the sidelines of the recent Pacific Islands Forum in Auckland, New Zealand.

Campbell's mention of the encounter was rare, as the U.S. government has kept its engagements with Taiwanese authorities low-profile since it switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

Campbell's citing of the meeting was seen as a response to dissatisfaction on the part of some U.S. congressional members regarding the State Department's attitude toward contact with senior Taiwanese officials.

According to official information from New Zealand, the Taiwanese delegation to the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) was headed by Vice Foreign Minister Shen Ssu-tsun.

Diplomatic sources said Shen met with Nides on the sidelines of the PIF on Sept. 8.

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