TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and National Security Council Secretary General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) will travel to the United States for secret talks with Biden administration officials next week, the Financial Times reported Saturday (Feb. 18).

After arriving in Washington, D.C., during the weekend, the two senior government officials will meet with U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer, the report said, quoting information from people familiar with the talks. One of the sources said Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman would also take part in the meetings with Wu and Koo.

While previous discussions as part of the “special channel” between the U.S. and Taiwan were held away from federal government buildings, next week’s round of talks will reportedly take place at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) headquarters in the state of Virginia.

Plans for the meetings closely follow a trip to Taiwan by Michael Chase, the top China official at the Pentagon, in only the second visit by a senior U.S. defense official in more than four decades.