Senior U.S. intelligence official visit draws information blackout

Update: Nov. 24-MOFA declines to comment on reports of U.S. intelligence official visit

Taipei, Nov. 22 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Sunday said it had no comment on a reported visit made by a senior U.S. military intelligence official to Taiwan.

Several local media outlets have reported that Rear Admiral Michael Studeman, director of Intelligence of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport on a special charter flight at around 7 p.m.

Asked to comment, MOFA said in a press release that it had no comment on the reported visit, saying only that the schedule of a "senior U.S. official" in Taiwan will not be made public, without confirming the visit or the official's identity.

Interactions and exchanges between Taiwan and the United States are common, and visits by U.S. officials to Taiwan are welcome, the statement said.

Earlier Sunday, some local news media reported that the U.S. charter was bringing Gina Haspel, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, to Taiwan.

But those reports were immediately refuted by MOFA, saying that they were not true.