US navy gives codes to military

The US navy sent a delegation of officials to Taiwan last week to provide wireless communication codes to facilitate communication between the two militaries, a defense source said yesterday.

The codes will enable Taiwan's fighter planes and warships to communicate with their US counterparts any time in the future, the source said.

During the 1996 missile crisis, Taiwan was given codes that helped open communication channels between the two sides, but after the crisis the codes were changed.

The recent renewal is part of an ongoing effort of improving communication in the event of an emergency, the source said.

The establishment of the links is considered to be unrelated to the recent collision between a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet, and instead is part of ongoing efforts to increase cooperation between the two militaries.

Erich Shih (施孝瑋), a senior editor with the Defense International magazine, said the communication codes will closely link the two countries militarily in the absence of diplomatic ties.

"This may sound incredible, but it is something to be expected given that the militaries of the two countries worked closely together during the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis," Shih said.

"Direct military links between Taiwan and the US also started in 1996 as China launched a series of missile tests in the waters off Taiwan," he said.

Most of the members of the navy delegation have since left Taiwan, but a few are still here finishing remaining work related to the mission.

During the delegation's stay, they were taken by Navy Commander-in-chief Admiral Li Chieh (李傑) to observe a test-firing of the domestically built Hsiung Feng-II and the US-made Harpoon anti-ship missiles in Pingtung, southern Taiwan, a navy official said.

The missile tests are part of the Hangkuang No. 17 joint-forces exercise, which began in the middle of last month.

Li also invited the US delegation to board some of the nation's second-generation fighting ships, including the Chengkung, Knox and Lafayette-class frigates.

The navy's general headquarters declined to comment on the visit, only saying that the delegation was comprised of some high-ranking officials.

A defense official, who declined to be identified, confirmed that providing the codes was part of the delegation's mission.

"Some members of the delegation are with the US navy's Seventh Fleet. We know the Seventh Fleet is always friendly toward Taiwan," the official said.

Besides the US navy, the US air force has also sent several delegations since the end of last year to provide technical assistance on the upgrading of the data link between the E-2T early warning aircraft and F-16 fighter planes.

The data link the US has provided Taiwan is as good as the links the US offers to the air forces of its NATO allies.

With the data link upgrade, the F-16 fighters will no longer need to depend as they do now on ground radar stations for a relay of real-time information gathered by the E-2T early warning aircraft.