Defense officials should address flaws in the military observed by US officials, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said yesterday, after the Financial Times reported that a “low-key” delegation visited Taipei last month to assess the nation’s forces and the potential for closer cooperation.
The visiting US advisers found the Taiwanese military proficient at a tactical level, but lacking the ability to think strategically, the report said.
However, they assessed efforts to be on the right track.
Photo courtesy of the 8th Field Army
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) “has made the difficult and big move to tell the public things need to change and an all-of-society effort is needed to defend their homeland,” the Financial Times quoted a US official as saying. “There will be more progress from here.”
The report suggests that US-Taiwan joint military training and exchange programs are becoming more “open and normalized” with improving bilateral ties, Wang said.
Although Taiwan’s long-term national defense strategy emphasizing deep strikes and multilayered deterrence was adequate, the US delegates observed shortfalls in some capabilities, he said.
Citing an example, he said the armed forces were assessed as utilizing an obsolete model of command and control that needs to be flatter and more distributed, he added.
The armed forces should think about a strategy for maintaining the nation’s military edge, as China’s People’s Liberation Army has revamped its amphibious and airborne assault capabilities, Wang said.
An effective response would require new strategic concepts and military cooperation programs, he said, adding that the Ministry of National Defense and other national security agencies should take heed of the delegation’s assessment.
Meanwhile, a source familiar with the matter said that the defense ministry is mulling sending a military delegation to observe the US National Guard for reference in managing and instilling combat effectiveness in Taiwan’s reserve force.
Since Taiwan and the US inked a coast guard memorandum of understanding, bilateral cooperation in military and paramilitary affairs has surged to encompass training, tactics and combat skills, they said, describing the relationship as “present and ongoing.”
Taiwan sends many service members for training in the US, including F-16 pilots and regular army personnel, while special forces and marines are also involved, they said.
The All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency’s decision to appoint a colonel-rank liaison officer to head Taiwan reserve force-US national guard cooperation shows the program has become normalized, said Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the Institute of National Defense and Security Research.
Taiwan’s reserve force could benefit from collaborating with the US national guard and learning from the latter’s training, institution and culture, he said, adding that the two forces have similar responsibilities of territorial defense and disaster response.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS