US deterrent
A defense official, who discussed the US evacuation plan with the Taipei Times on condition of anonymity, said that as far as the evacuation plan is concerned, there is no sign that the US is ready to get involved with Taiwan in a war against China.
"But the presence of US troops on the island will pose a big problem to China since they [the Chinese] may not dare drop bombs or fire missiles into areas where there are US troops. They will be notified in advanced of where the US troops will stay," the official said.
"This will be a kind of assistance to Taiwan. We can take advantage of the US evacuation plan to keep some of our major military equipment unharmed from bomb or missile attack," he said.
"This shows that the US does not have to be directly involved in Taiwan's war with China. In the future, however, the US may have plans to be directly involved in an armed conflict in the Taiwan Strait," he said. "An example is the navy's planned purchase of four Kidd-class destroyers from the US. The navy plans to use the Kidd-class destroyers to practice joint operations with the US Navy in the Pacific."
"The navy is to deploy Kidd-class destroyers most of the time on seas off the eastern coast -- somewhere close to places where the US Navy is stationed in the Asia-Pacific," the official said. "During peacetime, the navy will seek to use the Kidd-class destroyers for joint naval training with the US Navy. At time of war, the Kidds will lead the US naval ships into the Taiwan Strait."
RSS