World
Taiwanese officials' visit to the US canceled to avoid damaging relations with Beijing
The United States has canceled a meeting of Taiwan's defense minister with military officials in Washington to avoid damaging relations with China, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed sources.
Taiwan's defense minister, Wellington Koo, was reportedly scheduled to visit Washington in June to meet with U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Elbridge Colby. The meeting between the officials, however, was canceled at the last minute. The United States said the timing was inconvenient due to the strike on Iran. However, the newspaper's sources noted that there were other concerns. Some U.S. officials are concerned that the visit of Taiwan's defense minister will disrupt trade talks between the United States and China and damage Trump's efforts to arrange a meeting with President Xi Jinping.
The WP also reported that at the request of Beijing, Taiwan's Chief Executive Lai Tsing-dean's planned August visits to the United States have also been postponed.
