TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), who is currently on a trip to America, visited the U.S. State Department on Monday (June 6).

Chu told the media that the State Department congratulated him on the KMT’s new representative office in Washington D.C., which will hold a plaque-unveiling ceremony on June 8, CNA reported. When probed by the media whether the person he met with was Daniel Kritenbrink, the U.S. State Department's Assistant Secretary for Asia and the Pacific in charge of Asia-Pacific affairs, Chu remarked, "Well, it's not the first time we've met, right?"

"I'm very happy to meet up with an old friend, and we had a great conversation," he added.

The KMT chairman said the two sides touched upon a wide variety of issues, including national security, the economy, trade, technology, and energy during the 50-minute meeting. "We discussed almost everything. Because we were old friends, once we engaged, the conversation covered a lot of ground."

He said he hoped to continue exchanges in the future.

Chu met with Kritenbrink when he visited Washington in November 2015 as the KMT’s presidential candidate. Kritenbrink was senior director of Asia-Pacific affairs of the White House’s National Security Council at that time.

The KMT chairman also spoke at Brookings Institution on Monday, saying, “We are mislabeled by some people, some media say we are a pro-China party - it's totally wrong. We are a pro-U.S. party, forever.”

He said that Taiwan can help the West better understand China and be a model for Beijing. "Taiwan can have democracy. Why not China someday? We have to wait for this to happen, but we need Taiwan as a model."