Taiwan officials meet Trump transition team amid naval show

TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Senior officials from Taiwan's National Security Council have traveled to Washington this week to meet with individuals linked to President-elect Donald Trump's transition team, media reported on Thursday (Dec. 12). The meetings aim to establish robust diplomatic ties with the incoming administration amid escalating regional tensions. According to Reuters, Taiwan is eager to connect with key figures in Trump's circle to ensure mutual understanding and cooperation as geopolitical dynamics shift.

Military Activities Raise Concerns

The potential discussions in Washington, involving Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) and Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) from Taiwan's National Security Council, are expected to cover recent military activities involving China. Since Monday, China has deployed nearly 90 navy and coast guard ships near Taiwan, the southern Japanese islands and the East and South China Seas, according to Taiwan's military. This deployment, comprising two-thirds of naval vessels, marks China's largest naval presence in nearly three decades, echoing the military maneuvers around Taiwan before its first presidential election in 1996.

The Chinese military has neither confirmed nor denied these activities, leaving Taiwan and neighboring countries uncertain about Beijing's intentions. Military analysts are also puzzled by the lack of information, with two potential versions of the drills circulating online. One suggests military activity off the Chinese coast, while another anticipates drills to the north, south, and west of Taiwan.

Regional Implications
Regardless of the drill's specifics, China's actions deviate from usual practice. They come after two rounds of military exercises code-named Joint Sword-2024A and Joint Sword-2024B in May and October 2024. These maneuvers underscore rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait as China's military flexes its muscles in the South China Sea.

Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, 民進黨) suggests that China may have planned these exercises following President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) U.S. stopovers. However, military experts believe the activity could be an internal deployment drill by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA, 中國人民解放軍) rather than a direct threat to Taiwan. The latest PLA naval deployment reportedly took 70 days to prepare, indicating it was unlikely to target one specific country.

A source told Taiwan's Central News Agency that China might use Lai's overseas visit as an excuse, but the country is actually demonstrating its power to the U.S. and other Indo-Pacific countries ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20. In this context, Taiwan and other regional countries should closely monitor every PLA move, as U.S.-China relations may experience more turbulence in early 2025.