The US Department of Defense recently completed a comprehensive review of US-Taiwan defense ties, with the aim of determining how best to deal with the emerging Chinese threat against Taiwan, the Taiwan Defense Review said on Saturday.
The Review quoted US government sources as saying that the US President George W. Bush administration has expressed interest in better understanding whether the current policy of security cooperation with Taiwan is achieving the desired effects.
The scope of the review covered the full spectrum of US-Taiwan security cooperation, including arms sales as well as non-defense sales security assistance. The factors considered include the pace and efficacy of Taiwan's defense-reform effort, the competence of its military, the commitment of the nation's civilian leadership to defense, civilian-military relations and defense spending.
Not only is the US administration strongly supportive of Taipei, but there is a perception in Washington of an emerging Chinese military threat that could challenge American interests in the western Pacific as well as in Taiwan, according to the magazine.
The review was conducted against an evolving backdrop of an improving tone in overall US-Chinese relations and at a time of extreme sensitivity to any moves that could upset stability in the Strait amidst US preparations for military action in the Middle East.
The assessment found that Taiwan's military is still in the midst of a difficult transition phase, with reorganization and reforms still being implemented. The long-term benefits of such changes are still years away, the review claims. US officials are worried that the reforms will not leave Taiwan ready in time for the rapidly growing Chinese threat.
Therefore, a likely change in policy focus is expected to entail a shift towards quick-fix measures that can help boost Taiwan's joint operational capabilities and improve readiness, according to the magazine.
To achieve this, a number of challenges, largely of a technical and legislative nature, would have to be overcome, such as the stationing of US military advisors in Taiwan. Irrespective of the solutions chosen, an important consideration would be Taiwan's willingness to bear the cost of such military-advisory personnel.
Another possibility being considered is visits to Taiwan by senior US military officers.
However, US officials are concerned that such visits, even if kept extremely low-key, could be exploited by elements within Taiwan's government that might wish to brand the visits as tacit US endorsement of Taipei's pro-independence aspirations, thereby complicating US-Chinese relations.
According to the Review, another area now being given increased consideration by the US national security team is Washington's attitude toward Taiwan's development of a suitable counterforce capability. There continues to be significant resistance, mainly from the US State Department, to supplying Taiwan with attack weapons that could be construed as offensive.
However, according to the Review, there has been some easing of control on the release of electronic warfare and other related capabilities, which would help improve the survivability of Taiwan air force strike packages carrying out penetration strikes against Chinese targets.
The Review said the US government is troubled by Taiwan's behavior in recent years with respect to support for its own defense and its attitude toward military cooperation, while the Pentagon is under increasing pressure from a number of US academics and members of the Bush administration to reassess the Taiwan government's defense budget.
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