On Wednesday, Taiwan’s military revealed that a NATO general visited the island back in March, shortly before Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the United States. NATO—the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—is the biggest military alliance in the world.
The general’s visit took place at the National Defense University. NATO claimed that the trip was only “for academic purposes.”
For decades, the Chinese Communist Party has seen the democratically governed island as its own territory, despite never having ruled it. And the regime has a history of opposing Taiwan forming any ties with the West.
NATO has long been aware of China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. Just recently, the organization planned to open a liaison office in Japan, which would be its first in Asia.