Chase would be the most senior U.S. defence official known to have visited the island

Chase would be the most senior U.S. defence official known to have visited the island since 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic widely impacted U.S. government travel.

China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has repeatedly demanded that foreign officials not visit the democratically governed island.

China and the United States are involved in a bitter dispute over the U.S. military's shooting down of what it called a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina this month. China says the balloon was for monitoring weather.

Speaking in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin reiterated that the government was firmly opposed to official interactions and military ties between the United States and Taiwan.

China staged war games near Taiwan last August to express its anger at a Taipei visit by then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Although the United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, it is the island's most important arms supplier and the two have a close security relationship.

In 2020, a two-star Navy admiral overseeing U.S. military intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region made an unannounced visit to Taiwan.