The US is mulling the possibility of sending an aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait as a show of support to Taiwan, a report by Reuters said yesterday, citing US officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to the report, the US had explored plans for an aircraft carrier passage earlier this year, but did not pursue them, perhaps due to concerns about upsetting China.
The last time a US aircraft carrier transited the Taiwan Strait was in 2007, when George W. Bush was president.
Photo: Reuters
According to Reuters, the Pentagon has declined to comment on any potential future operations, so it was not clear how soon such a passage might take place.
However, yesterday’s story follows a Reuters’ report on Sunday from the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore that said the US Department of Defense was weighing a more assertive program of freedom-of-navigation operations close to Chinese installations on reefs in the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島) and Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), citing two unnamed US officials, and Western and Asian diplomats close to the discussions.
Two US Navy warships, the USS Higgins, a destroyer, and the USS Antietam, a cruiser — last month passed within 12 nautical miles (22.2km) of the Paracels.
While yesterday’s Reuters report said that some US military officials think a carrier transit is overdue, it said another option would be resuming the periodic passages by other US Navy ships.
The last time US Navy ships sailed through the Strait was in July last year, according to Reuters.
“They’re turning up the heat,” Reuters yesterday cited one US official as saying about the US view of Chinese military activities around Taiwan this year.
In Taipei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) declined to comment on the possibility of a US warship passage through the Strait, saying the news had yet to be verified.
According to the Reuters report yesterday, one US official said that Washington is also aiming to change the way it approaches arms sales requests from Taiwan to address them on a case-by-case basis instead of bundling them together.
It also quoted US-Taiwan Business Council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers as saying that moving away from bundling would be better for Taipei’s defense needs, as it would treat Taiwan more like a regular security partner.
“We get into difficulty when we treat Taiwan differently, which opens the door for the politicization of the [arms sales] process,” it cited Hammond-Chambers as saying.
Asked by Reuters about US obligations to Taiwan, Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Logan said Washington has sold Taiwan more than US$15 billion of weaponry since 2010.
“We have a vital interest in upholding the current rules-based international order, which features a strong, prosperous and democratic Taiwan,” it quoted Logan as saying.
Meanwhile, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) yesterday urged the US to prudently handle the Taiwan issue to avoid harming bilateral ties and peace and stability in the region.
“We have repeatedly emphasized that the Taiwan issue is the most important and sensitive core issue in the China-US relationship,” she told a daily news briefing.
In related news, it now appears unlikely that Washington is to send top officials to next week’s dedication ceremony for the new American Institute in Taiwan’s office building in Taipei, according to a Reuters report.
US officials cited by Reuters said that the ceremony would clash with the summit in Singapore on Tuesday next week between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but that there would be another opportunity to commemorate the unveiling when the complex opens in September.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source