TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Distinguished Professor Wang Hsin-hsien of the National Chengchi University (NCCU) Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies speculated Tuesday (April 16) that the recent meeting between U.S. Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel J. Kritenbrink and officials from China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) may have involved discussions about President-elect Lai Ching-te's inauguration speech and related personnel arrangements.
Kritenbrink and Sarah M. Beran, National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs, recently met with China’s TAO Deputy Director Qiu Kaiming in Beijing, drawing attention.
Li Zhenguang, the Institute of Taiwan Studies deputy director at Beijing Union University, believes the meeting between Kritenbrink and Qiu underscores the importance of Taiwan issues in Sino-U.S. relations and sees the need for detailed communication.
Wang pointed out that Kritenbrink's direct meeting with the deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office indicates that the U.S. and China have continued to communicate on Taiwan Strait risk control since the Biden-Xi meeting last November.
He believes a significant part of the conversation also targeted Lai's inauguration speech and related personnel arrangements.
In early April, Laura Rosenberger, chairperson of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), visited Taiwan and had discussions with Lai, bringing related information back to the U.S. State Department.
On the other hand, Alexander Huang, associate professor at the Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies at Tamkang University (TKU), believes Kritenbrink's visit was mainly to make preliminary arrangements for Deputy Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken's visit. He does not think this trip carries any special signal for Lai's inauguration.