The US yesterday confirmed that it will post military officers to its mission in Taipei for the first time since 1979, when the US switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing.
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) spokeswoman Dana Shell Smith confirmed the Jane's Defence Weekly report that Washington will start posting active-duty military officers to the AIT.
In a news release, Dana said the AIT has been hiring retired US military officers as contractors to coordinate defense assistance to Taiwan.
"Non-uniformed, active-duty military and Department of Defense civilian personnel will now replace these contractors. They are being detailed to AIT as part of the normal rotation of personnel," she said.
"This is a personnel matter ... Our policy towards Taiwan has not changed," she said.
China voiced strong opposition yesterday to the development, saying the move violated Sino-US agreements.
Foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (
"Whatever excuse or method the US side uses to develop military relations with Taiwan violates the principles of the three Sino-US joint communiques, will encourage Taiwan separatist activities and harm peace and stability in the Taiwan region as well as China-US relations," Liu said.
Jane's Defence Weekly reported on Sunday that the Pentagon would gradually send active-duty military personnel to replace civilian contractors at the AIT, starting with the deployment of a US army officer to head a Technical Liaison Section mid-next year.
The Pentagon had considered stationing an active-duty officer in Taipei in 2000, but put off the plan because of concerns about Beijing's protests, the weekly said, quoting an unidentified source.
Meanwhile, a US expert with close ties to the Pentagon said on Monday that the US will not be the first country with no diplomatic ties with Taiwan to have stationed an active-duty officer in Taipei.
The expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, for example, France has long posted an active-duty officer in Taiwan.
To the best of his knowledge, he said, a French military officer was promoted to the rank of major-general after concluding his stint in Taiwan.
The expert said US law must be revised before the Pentagon sends active-duty military staff to Taiwan.
Under the law, active-duty military personnel must first apply for duty suspension before going to Taiwan and their service stint in Taiwan cannot be counted into their seniority when they return to continue their service in the military. As the suspension of seniority can affect promotions, few US military officers would be interested in serving in Taiwan.
The Pentagon will discuss possible revisions with Congress with reference to French provisions, the expert said.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
CABINET APPROVAL: People seeking assisted reproduction must be assessed to determine whether they would be adequate parents, the planned changes say Proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) advanced yesterday by the Executive Yuan would grant married lesbian couples and single women access to legal assisted reproductive services. The proposed revisions are “based on the fundamental principle of respecting women’s reproductive autonomy,” Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who presided over a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday, as saying at the briefing. The draft amendment would be submitted to the legislature for review. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which proposed the amendments, said that experts on children’s rights, gender equality, law and medicine attended cross-disciplinary meetings, adding that
RSS