Presidential Office declines to confirm Trump team talks

Taipei, Dec. 12 (CNA) A Presidential Office spokesperson on Thursday declined to confirm a media report that Taiwanese national security officials were in the United States to meet with President-elect Donald Trump's transition team.

In response to the report, spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a brief statement that "[conducting] visits and exchanges is part of the national security team's routine work" and that she "has no further comment" on the matter.

The statement followed a Reuters report on Wednesday (Washington time), which said Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) and Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆), the deputy secretaries-general of Taiwan's National Security Council (NSC), had "traveled to the Washington area for meetings through this week."

The NSC is directly chaired by the Taiwanese president to advise on issues related to national security.

The report also cited five sources as saying the Taiwanese officials would meet with members of Trump's transition team, including Republicans likely to fill "mid-tier political positions" in his next administration but not those nominated for top roles.