Taiwan's deputy foreign minister said to have made secret trip to Israel

Unpublicised Dec visit comes as Taipei seeks defence cooperation with Tel Aviv

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Taiwan's high-profile Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu made a previously unpublicised visit to Israel recently, three sources familiar with the trip told Reuters, at a time when Taiwan is looking to the country for defence cooperation.

Taiwan has few formal diplomatic ties due to pressure from China, which views the island as one of its provinces and not a country. Like most other countries, Israel officially recognises only Beijing and not Taipei, and while senior Taiwanese diplomats do travel abroad, trips to countries such as Israel are rare.

Still, Taiwan views Israel as an important democratic partner and offered strong support to the country after the October 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel and for the subsequent war in Gaza and, since then, there has been an increased level of engagement.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters that Mr Wu had gone to Israel in recent weeks. Two of the sources said the trip happened in December.