The Pentagon has confirmed that US troops will be present at upcoming military exercises in Taiwan, but US officials deny press reports that Americans will take an active part in the drills.
US officials say the troops will serve only as observers and analysts.
US activities during the exercises will be "in the realm of things we do with Taiwan that are consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act [TRA], and appropriate for helping Taiwan meet their self-defense capabilities," said US Defense Department East Asia spokesman Jeff Davis.
"We routinely interact with Taiwan's military in order to carry out our obligations under the TRA. As a matter of practice, we don't discuss the details of those contacts," he told the Taipei Times.
US military personnel will only be at the Hankuang exercises to "observe and assess" the performance of Taiwan's military teams, US officials told the Times.
There is a "fine line" between this and actual participation, which would be a violation of the TRA and arrangements for military contacts, the officials say.
While US military personnel have had observers' roles at previous Hankuang exercises, US officials are angry over leaks in the Taiwanese media of the US participation this year.
Sources say the anger was so strong that President Chen Shui-bian (
Observing the annual exercises helps the US shape its security assistance to Taipei in order to help Taiwan meet it's "legitimate self defense needs under the TRA," US officials say. Actual participation, they say, would not be consistent with the TRA.
Nevertheless, officials have revealed that the US was considering active participation this year, although discussions had only taken place at a low level. The officials say that if the discussions had reached a high level, they probably would have been rejected.
While US military assistance has focused in the past almost entirely on the armaments that Washington has sold Taipei, the situation is changing.
"There are a number of things we are doing with Taiwan on the security assistance front that go beyond hardware," an official said.
This includes helping Taiwanese military on a person-to-person level.
US officials complain that while Taiwan has a good deal of advanced hardware, its military does not have the know-how to put the equipment to good use or to run an efficient defense ministry. Part of this, the officials note, stems from Taiwan's having been locked out of various defense forums in recent years.
The US officials say that the Pentagon is especially interested in helping Taiwan's military improve ways to carry out joint operations among the armed forces, establish civilian control of the military and reform its antiquated defense acquisition systems.
Late last year, the US Con-gress approved, and President George W. Bush signed into law, a defense authorization bill for fiscal 2003 that called for the Pentagon to report to Congress this spring on the feasibility of closer military ties between Washington and Taipei, including joint exercises and US training programs for Taiwan-ese officers.
It is still unclear whether the administration will meet the congressional deadline.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
COORDINATION, ASSURANCE: Separately, representatives reintroduced a bill that asks the state department to review guidelines on how the US engages with Taiwan US senators on Tuesday introduced the Taiwan travel and tourism coordination act, which they said would bolster bilateral travel and cooperation. The bill, proposed by US senators Marsha Blackburn and Brian Schatz, seeks to establish “robust security screenings for those traveling to the US from Asia, open new markets for American industry, and strengthen the economic partnership between the US and Taiwan,” they said in a statement. “Travel and tourism play a crucial role in a nation’s economic security,” but Taiwan faces “pressure and coercion from the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]” in this sector, the statement said. As Taiwan is a “vital trading
RSS