Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman and presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) met with US officials in Washington behind closed doors on Thursday, with both sides declining to reveal details.
“Everything that should have been said and discussed was covered,” Chu told reporters after walking out of a US Department of State building for the second time in a day.
He said outside the Harry S. Truman Building that he had met with the friends he should meet while in Washington, and they had “very good and pleasant discussions.”
Photo: CNA
“The atmosphere [of the meeting] was excellent,” he added.
As of late Thursday, the Department of State, the White House, as well as other US government agencies that were in touch with Chu, all declined to answer questions from the media about the talks.
In line with long-standing US policy, officials have said little about Chu’s activities in Washington, with a Department of State spokesman saying earlier in the week only that the US was looking forward to his visit.
It is believed that Chu returned to the Department of State in the late afternoon to meet Deputy US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In addition to the two meetings in the Washington neighborhood of Foggy Bottom, Chu was seen driven into the White House compound in the morning for a meeting in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with Daniel Kritenbrink, senior director for Asian affairs of the White House’s National Security Council.
He also had a working lunch with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Abraham Denmark and later held talks with Deputy US Trade Representative Robert Holleyman before the meeting with Blinken.
Chu is in Washington for two days as part of his visit to the US. The other cities on his tour are Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.
In addition to talks with US officials, the New Taipei City mayor met Taiwanese in the country to drum up support in the run-up to the presidential election on Jan. 16.
Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) visited the US in late May and early June.
Blinken also met with Tsai during her stop in Washington.
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