China Daily/Asia News Network
Date: Nov 14, 2015
By: Yuan-Ming Chiao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman and presidential candidate Eric Chu met with high-level US officials yesterday in Washington, D.C., where discussions touched on trade, cross-strait ties and East Asian security.

Chu and Taiwan’s top envoy to the US, Shen Lyushun, were absent from a welcome dinner hosted by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) at the Twin Oaks Estate later in the evening, raising speculation that the two were called away for additional high-level meetings, which the KMT later denied.

Regional Security

Chu, on the fourth day of his one-week visit, started his Washington visit at the US State Department, where he met with Daniel Russel and Susan Thornton, US Assistant Secretary of State and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs, respectively. From there, his delegation met with National Security Council officials at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building located adjacent to the White House West Wing, including the agency’s Asia director Daniel Kritenbrink and Ryan Hass, director for China, Taiwan and Mongolian Affairs.

At noon, Chu met US Defence Department officials at the Pentagon, including Kelly Magsamen, principal deputy assistant secretary of defence for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, along with two other high-level officials.
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