US Navy Admiral Visits Taiwan

choi

(1) Yimou Lee, US Navy Admiral Makes Unannounced Visit to Taiwan, Sources Say. Reuters, Nov 22, 2020 ("4:13 PM," according to the report).
https://ca.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-usa-idCAKBN2820BH
("TAIPEI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A two-star Navy admiral overseeing US military intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region has made an unannounced visit to Taiwan, two sources told Reuters on Sunday * * * The sources, who include a Taiwanese official familiar with the situation, said the official was Rear Admiral Michael Studeman. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity.  According to the Navy’s website, Studeman is director of the J2, which oversees intelligence, at the U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command.  The Pentagon declined comment, as did Taiwan's Defence Ministry")

Note:
(a) Joint Chiefs of Staff
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Chiefs_of_Staff   
(1942- ; The Joint Staff (JS) is a headquarters staff in the Pentagon; section 4 Joint Staff: J2 – Intelligence)

Quote: "Following the Goldwater–Nichols Act in 1986, the Joint Chiefs of Staff do not have operational command authority, either individually or collectively, as the chain of command goes from the president to the secretary of defense, and from the secretary to the regional combatant commanders."

there is a J2 director in Pentagon and each combatant command also.

Note: There is no need to read the rest of either report below, because the quotations I supply is all that is new in the 2 reports.
(a) 赵婉成, 美国高阶人士再度访台 中国称坚决反对 将依形势作必要反应. VOA Chinese, Nov 23, 2020
https://www.voachinese.com/a/chi ... 201123/5673210.html
("路透社从一名熟悉内情的匿名消息人士得知，11月22日 [Sunday, Taiwan time] 访台的是美军印太司令部情报处处长、海军少将史达曼（Rear Admiral Michael Studeman) 。 * * * 另据台湾媒体报道，一架美军C-37专机星期六低调降落台北松山机场，一直到抵达台湾前才打开识别讯号，这架飞机与今年9月中旬美国副国务卿克拉奇（Keith Krach) 来台所搭乘的飞机同一机型")
(b) 鍾廣政, 負責印太軍事情報美軍官秘密訪台　中方老調重彈反對美台官員交往. Radio Free China, Nov 23, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/ne ... 11232020044311.html
("搭載美方高層官員的C-37行政專機周日傍晚抵台前，台灣部份傳媒已接獲當局消息，前往台北市松山機場守候，採訪美方這次神密之行。但當傳媒發出報道後，台灣的政府部門卻拒絕證實美國官員來訪。 * * * 民進黨外交及國防委員會立委趙天麟指，如果來訪的是海軍出身的史都德曼，他猜測來台目的，和周二（24日）蔡英文主持台灣自製潛水艇動工儀式有關。  趙天麟說：蔡總統24號要去主持的潛艦國造的動工儀式")

I have doubts that the visit is related to submarine-building project. What an intelligence official to do with technology?

choi

(2) Eight hours after the above Reuters report came

James Griffiths, Ryan Browne and Vivian Salama, US Navy Admiral Visits Taiwan as Trump Admin Solidifies Ties Before Exit. CNN, Nov 23, 2020 ("12:21 AM ET" per the report)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/22/a ... intl-hnk/index.html

Quote:

(a) "As officials were meeting [in Taiwan], the US Navy sailed a warship [USS Barry, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer] through the Taiwan Strait, the first such transit since the election"

(b) "In another move sure to anger China's leaders, the US also welcomed the head of the Tibetan government in exile to the White House over the weekend, though he did not meet with senior officials. * * * The visit of Lobsang Sangay, head of the India-based Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), to the White House on Saturday is another such step. No leader of the Tibetan government in exile has visited the building in 60 years, the CTA said in a statement. * * * In its statement, the CTA said the logic for denying its officials entry to the White House and the US State Department 'was that the US government does not recognize the Tibetan government in exile.'  'Today's visit amounts to an acknowledgment of both the democratic system of the CTA and its political head,' the statement added.

(3) Center in the home page of the CTA is

Dr Lobsang Sangay Formally Enters the United States White House This Afternoon — a Historic Feat. CTA, No 21, 2020
https://tibet.net/sikyong-dr-lob ... on-a-historic-feat/
("Washington DC: Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay entered the United States White House this afternoon — a historic feat. This is the first time in the last 6 decades the head of the Central Tibetan Administration has been invited into the White House. * * * Dr Sangay met with White House officials. Prior to this meeting, Dr Sangay had met with White House officials in undisclosed meetings and locations over a dozen times in the past 10 years since he became the CTA's Sikyong in 2011. * * * he [Dr Sangay] nears the end of his term as the Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration * * * Earlier this week, Sikyong Dr Sangay had several virtual meetings" with US senator and representative")

Note:
(a) So the quotation in (2) that "he did not meet with senior officials." The key word is "senior" because (3) says he did meet some White House officials.
(b) "the last 6 decades"?

That is because Central Tibetan Administration
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Tibetan_Administration
(table: Establishment 1959)
(c) My research showed that the Dalai Lama, deemed a religious leader, has visited White House six times: 1991 (George HW Bush), 2000 (Clinton), 2007 (George WBush), 2010, 2014 and 2016 (the last three: Obama).