Movement in Taipei.. Taiwan receives a Chinese delegation and a senior American official 

A group of Chinese officials arrived in Taiwan today, Saturday, for the first visit since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, coinciding with the visit of a senior official of the US Department of Defense "Pentagon" to Taipei, at a time of escalating military tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

Last week, the Taiwan government allowed six officials, led by Liu Xiaodong, deputy head of the Chinese Taiwan Affairs Office in Shanghai, to attend a cultural festival in Taipei at the invitation of the city government.

A small group of Taiwan independence supporters staged a protest against Liu's visit outside the airport in Taipei, chanting "Taiwan and China, two separate countries."

The China Policymaking Affairs Council in Taiwan said the group was allowed to visit as long as it kept a low profile, and hoped the visit would promote mutual understanding and "healthy and orderly relations" in the future.

Although China has refused to speak to the Taiwan government since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, believing it to be separatist, mutual visits between cities continued until they were stopped due to the Corona pandemic.

American visitor

Meanwhile, news agencies reported that Michael Chase, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense responsible for China at the Pentagon, arrived in Taiwan, at the beginning of a visit that could exacerbate tensions between Beijing and Washington.

"We do not have comment on specific operations, but I would like to highlight that our support and defense relationship with Taiwan remains strong against the current threat posed by China," a Pentagon spokesman was quoted as saying by Reuters.

For his part, Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kucheng said earlier that he was "not quite sure" about a report on the visit of Chase, who will be the most senior known US defense official to visit Taiwan since 2019.

For its part, the Financial Times confirmed the arrival of a senior US Department of Defense official in charge of relations with China, on Friday, to Taiwan.

The newspaper said that Chase arrived in Taipei on Friday, noting that he is the highest non-elected US official to visit Taiwan since 2019.

Taiwanese delegation in Washington

In a related context, the Financial Times reported today, Saturday, that the White House will hold a meeting with senior Taiwanese officials, next week in Washington, for talks that will be decided to be private to avoid an angry reaction from China.

The newspaper said - quoting 5 sources familiar with the talks, whose identities were not disclosed - that Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and National Security Adviser Wellington Koo will head the Taiwanese delegation, which will meet John Weiner, US Deputy National Security Adviser, and Wendy Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State.

For its part, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it strongly opposes "any official or military contact between the United States and Taiwan."

A spokesman for this ministry, during a routine press conference, called on Washington to "stop all forms of official and military contact with Taiwan, stop its interference in Taiwan affairs, and stop provoking tension in the Taiwan Strait."

China considers the island of Taiwan - with a population of 24 million - an integral part of its territory, and expresses its dissatisfaction with the rapprochement that has existed in recent years between Taipei and Washington.

US President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he intends to "talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping" about the Chinese balloon that was shot down by the Americans, stressing that he does not want a "cold war" with Beijing.