The US is set to expand the number of troops helping train Taiwanese forces, two US officials said on Thursday, although the White House declined to comment on the details.
Reuters in 2021 reported that a small number of US special operations forces have been rotating into Taiwan on a temporary basis to train the military.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the Pentagon was expected to increase that number in the coming months.
Photo: CNA
One of the officials said the exact number of increased troops was unclear.
“Our support for and defense relationship with Taiwan remains aligned against the current threat posed by the People’s Republic of China and consistent with our ‘one China’ policy. That has not changed,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked about the report in a daily news briefing.
“Our commitment to Taiwan contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and within the region,” she said.
On the decision to send more troops to Taiwan, Jean-Pierre said questions on specific troop numbers should be referred to the US Department of Defense, which had yet to respond to the report as of Thursday night.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei yesterday, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said he “did not know” the source of the information about expanded training.
He said that Taiwan and the US have substantial military interaction, which naturally includes personnel coming to teach how to use equipment the US sells to Taiwan.
However, it does not involve stationing troops in Taiwan, Chiu added.
The Wall Street Journal earlier on Thursday reported that the US was markedly increasing the number of troops deployed to Taiwan to bolster a training program for the military.
“The US plans to deploy between 100 and 200 troops to the island in the coming months, up from roughly 30 there a year ago,” the report said, citing US officials.
The larger force would expand a training program the Pentagon has taken pains not to publicize as the US works to provide Taipei with the capabilities it needs to defend itself without provoking Beijing, the report said.
The planned increase would also be the largest deployment of forces in decades by the US in Taiwan, as the two draw closer to counter China’s growing military power, the report said.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated in an online discussion on Thursday why the US felt the stakes in the Taiwan Strait were so high.
He said the high concern over a crisis across the Taiwan Strait exists because it is not an internal matter, as China frames it.
“It’s a matter of concern to quite literally the entire world,” he told Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic as they reviewed the implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Half of all commercial container traffic goes through that waterway every day, Blinken said, adding that most of the semiconductors that the world needs are produced in Taiwan.
“If there were a crisis in Taiwan as a result of China’s aggression in some fashion, that would have, I think, disastrous consequences for the world economy and for countries around the world, and that’s a message, too, that Beijing is hearing increasingly,” Blinken said.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
RSS