US brigadier-general's visit to Taiwan to mark breakthrough: Presidential Office
By Lin Chieh-yu
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Jun 03, 2004,Page 2
US Brigadier-General John Allen, principal director of Asia and Pacific Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, will visit Taiwan next month to discuss military cooperation and defense plans, a source at the Presidential Office told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Allen's visit would mark a breakthrough as it would be the first time an active US general has paid an official visit to Taiwan since the US severed diplomatic ties with the country in 1978.
The Ministry of National Defense and the American Institute in Taiwan, however, said they did not know anything about Allen's visit.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2004/06/03/2003158031