Taipei: Former National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Ting Mao-shih, a pivotal figure during the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1996, has died at the age of 99, an unnamed diplomatic source informed CNA. Ting passed away on Tuesday at Cheng Hsin General Hospital in Taipei. The source, who wished to remain anonymous, was not authorized to publicly discuss Ting’s death.

According to Focus Taiwan, Ting Mao-shih was born on October 10, 1925, in Binchuan County, Yunnan Province, China. He had an illustrious career as a senior diplomat, serving as the Republic of China’s (Taiwan) top diplomat from 1987 to 1988 and later as the representative to the United States. His diplomatic assignments also included roles as a top envoy to countries such as South Korea, Rwanda, and Zaire.

In May 1996, as the NSC secretary-general under President Lee Teng-hui, Ting played a key role by traveling to New York for high-level talks with James Steinberg, the deputy national security adviser under U.S. President Bill Clinton. This meeting occurred amid the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, a period marked by China’s missile tests in waters surrounding Taiwan, following Lee’s U.S. visit and ahead of Taiwan’s first direct presidential election.

The 1996 meeting between Ting and Steinberg was significant as it was the first high-level engagement between U.S. and Taiwan security officials since the cessation of official relations in 1979. This dialogue established a platform for ongoing meetings between Washington and Taipei’s national security agencies, despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations.

Ting also held discussions with then Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama in May 1996, focusing on the cross-strait situation and intelligence sharing. This marked the first visit by a top Taiwan national security official to Japan since the diplomatic ties were severed in 1972.

In response to the crisis, the U.S. deployed the Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group through the Taiwan Strait, representing the largest U.S. military presence in Asia since the Vietnam War. This decisive action was seen as a robust show of support for Taiwan, which reportedly led China to cease its military exercises in the region.