Taiwan’s military and its US counterpart could share best practices in combating China’s cognitive warfare and other areas as part of their military cooperation, China expert Miles Yu (余茂春) said at a forum in Taipei on Saturday.
The US and Taiwan should get a better understanding of each other’s “strengths and weaknesses” and try to find ways to “overcome [their] shortcomings,” Yu said on possible military cooperation between the two sides in response to Beijing’s threats against Taiwan.
Yu, who served as the China policy adviser to then-US secretary of state Mike Pompeo during the administration of former US president Donald Trump, made the comments in a pre-recorded video shown at the forum hosted by the Formosa Republican Association.
Photo: CNA
The forum was held in commemoration of the 45th anniversary of the US’ Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).
Yu, a senior fellow and director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute, said the US and Taiwanese militaries can share their best practices, especially regarding “psychological warfare and cognitive warfare,” to achieve better teamwork.
For many decades, the US had not developed its military theory and command with the assumption that China could be its potential target, Yu said, adding that the US military also did not have a chance to engage in confrontations with its Chinese counterpart.
On the other hand, Taiwan’s military understands “the Chinese Communist Party’s strategic culture and tactical operations,” he said, adding that Taiwan is not short of experts familiar with these topics.
He also advocated for US arms sales to Taiwan aimed at enhancing the latter’s asymmetric warfare capabilities and targeting China’s vulnerabilities, without elaborating.
Speaking of the TRA, which serves as a foundation for Washington’s policy towards Taipei in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, Yu said it was “landmark” legislation, but could be modified to strengthen the US’ commitment to Taiwan.
He said the legislation should expand from the US’ commitment to Taiwan proper and the Penghu archipelago to also include the outlying islands such as Kinmen and Matsu.
He was referring to the text of the TRA,which defines “Taiwan” as including only “the islands of Taiwan and the Pescadores” as well as the people, corporations and other entities on those islands.
The TRA, promulgated in 1979 in the wake of the US switching diplomatic recognition from the Republic of China to the People’s Republic of China, mandates that Washington supply defense weapons to Taiwan.
According to the TRA, it remains US policy to “maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan.”
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
RSS