The US is bolstering deployment across the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in countries along the Pacific island chains, in response to China’s expanding “gray zone” activities in the region, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.
Lin made the comment in response to a Wall Street Journal report regarding the Pentagon’s military investment in Guam to protect Taiwan.
Added US presence in the region would also protect other nations in the first island chain, not only Taiwan, he said, adding that Taiwan would take measures and continue to work with like-minded countries to ensure regional peace and stability.
Photo: Reuters
The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday published an article titled “Fortifying America’s Pacific Front Line Is Getting Expensive and Difficult,” where it detailed the US’ multibillion dollar investment to “strengthen Guam’s role as an anchor of US military strategy,” the goal of which is “to deter China’s increasingly powerful military from using force to take over Taiwan.”
Developments on Guam include the new Camp Blaz marine base, a navy maintenance facility for submarines and upgrades to Anderson Air Force Base, from which the US could send long-range bombers into a Taiwan conflict, it said.
The US plans to increase troops on Guam by 10,000 by 2037, bringing the total number to about 34,000, the article said, with US$6.2 billion to be spent from 2019 to 2028 to establish “force-posture projects.”
As China’s missile capabilities have rapidly improved over the past few years, the US has reinforced its military capabilities on Guam, which is closer to Beijing than Hawaii, it said.
However, there is still debate about the strategic value and cost-effectiveness of that investment, it added.
The project is costly and logistically difficult, and might not bring the desired security advantages, as Guam is more than 2,400km from Taiwan and the South China Sea, it said, adding that the US must also contend with China’s “Guam killer,” an upgraded version of the DF-26 missile.
However, as a US territory, Guam allows US forces to forgo foreign approval, it said.
Moreover, China has set the second island chain territory as a key target, the report said, citing Chinese hackers infiltrating multiple networks on Guam and Chinese People’s Liberation Army military activity moving beyond the first island chain and into the second.
“Some people feel that Guam is critical, because of its location and that we need to make sure that we can operate from Guam effectively,” former US defense official Zack Cooper said. “Others believe that Guam is impossible to defend at an acceptable cost and that we should focus more on diversification.”
Marine Corps Commandant General Eric Smith in January said that with the US partially withdrawing forces from Okinawa, Japan, moving operations to Guam “puts us going the wrong way,” adding that the US still needs a deterrent force in the first island chain.
US Indo-Pacific Command Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo last month said that Guam anchors the US’ ability to defend, to project power, sustain alliances and partnerships, and deter aggression, while US Navy Rear Admiral Brett Mietus said: “Guam is just more developed than the other islands, so it makes sense to do the bulk of our investment here.”
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