UPDATE - US, Taiwan defense officials held talks ahead of China’s military parade: Report

ADDS TAIWAN ORDERING STINGERS FROM US

By Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) - Senior defense officials from the US and Taiwan held talks in Alaska last week, ahead of China's World War II end commemoration parade in Beijing, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Jed Royal, the Pentagon’s top Indo-Pacific official, met Hsu Szu-chien, then Taiwan’s deputy national security adviser, in Anchorage, the newspaper reported citing several people familiar with the matter.

Hsu currently holds a more senior role advising Taiwan’s national security adviser Joseph Wu.

One US official said the decision to hold the meeting in Alaska was a deliberate attempt to make the talks less high-profile.

The official also said that the US delegation's formation was partly due to scheduling constraints.

China held its largest military parade on Wednesday, with 26 foreign leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in attendance, to mark the surrender of Japan, which ended World War II in 1945.

Talks between Taipei and Washington came months after a Washington meeting between more senior officials was cancelled, partly over concerns that it could derail a potential bilateral summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

Taiwan has also ordered thousands of FIM-92 Stinger missiles worth NT$11.02 billion (US$359.9 million), on top of a previous order by the National Defense Ministry for 2,621 Stinger systems for NT$69 billion ($2.2 billion) from the US, the Taipei Times reported, citing a military source.

In the first term of US President Donald Trump, the US approved approximately $18 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, while the island received approximately $8 billion during Joe Biden's term.

China considers Taiwan a breakaway province. Taiwan, however, rejects that claim and has insisted on its independence since 1949.​​​​​​​