TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Secretary-General of the National Security Council Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) is in the United States for secret talks, multiple news agencies reported Saturday.

The former foreign minister is leading a delegation for a meeting known as the "special channel," per the Financial Times. It added that the Friday talks were the first time US President Donald Trump had used the channel.

The channel was first reported in 2021 by the FT and is said to be a forum for Taiwan and the US to discuss security issues. However, it is not publicized to avoid angering Beijing.

Typically, members of the US National Security Council attend the forum.

The visit follows a week of live-fire drills from the PLA in the East China Sea called "Strait Thunder-2025A.” China has been escalating military drills to prepare for a possible invasion of Taiwan.

Neither the White House nor the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (an unofficial embassy) responded to Reuters' requests for comment.