A spokesman for the U.S. State Department on Thursday expressed opposition to any external interference in Taiwan’s upcoming presidential election. The statement from State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel came in response to a question during a regular press briefing.

Vedant says the U.S. has full confidence in Taiwan’s election process, which should be decided without outside interference. Vedant did not comment on China’s potential reaction to the Taiwan election. He also did not directly respond to a question as to whether the U.S. was communicating with Beijing about the reported delegation of former U.S. officials being sent to Taipei immediately following Taiwan’s elections. 

It was previously reported by several news outlets that the Biden administration intends to send a bipartisan delegation of former officials to Taipei after the election. The news prompted concerns among some that such a move could anger China, while others said that showing bipartisan support for Taiwanese democracy would be beneficial.