U.S. defense contractors, retired general in Taiwan for forum: Source

Taipei, June 4 (CNA) Steven Rudder, a retired United States Marine Corps officer, and representatives of 27 American defense contractors have arrived in Taiwan to meet with President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and attend a forum to strengthen cooperation on defense technologies.

The group of defense industry representatives and Rudder arrived in Taiwan late Monday to attend the Taiwan-U.S. Defense Industry Forum to be held Thursday, a source familiar with the matter told CNA.

Aside from attending the half-day forum, the delegation will also visit Taiwan's top military research unit, the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, and its chief aerospace company, Aerospace Industrial Development Corp., to discuss potential cooperation on UAVs and defense technologies, the source said.

They will also meet with President Lai, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and other senior government officials, according to the source.

Organized by the Taipei-based Taiwan Defense Industry Development Association and Arlington-based US-Taiwan Business Council, the forum will feature addresses by representatives of the association and council as well as by Rudder, the source said.

Rudder is currently a nonresident senior fellow in the Indo-Pacific Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

He retired as the commanding general of Marine Forces Pacific in September 2022 after leading an organization of 80,000 people responsible for all Marine operations in the Asia Pacific, according to his Atlantic Council biography.

Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Chen Yeong-kang (陳永康), a retired Navy admiral, will also give a keynote address during the forum, being held at the Taipei International Convention Center and to be attended by experts and representatives from defense companies.

Some of the topics to be touched on will be Taiwan's domestic warship and warplane projects, advanced defense technologies, and drones, according to a tentative itinerary released by its organizers.