The United States will send two former high-ranking government officials to the inauguration ceremony of Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te to be held next week, a senior administration official said Wednesday.
The two officials are former Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, according to the official.
Sticking to long-standing precedent, no current U.S. officials will attend the ceremony on Monday as the United States does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province.
Besides Deese and Armitage, Laura Rosenberger, head of the American Institute in Taiwan, and Richard Bush, a former chair of the institute who is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, will attend the event, according to the U.S. administration official.
The institute serves as Washington's de facto embassy in Taipei.
