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Are US special Forces permanently stationed in Taiwan’s just 3 miles from mainland china? In early 2024 Taiwan’s United Daily News publication ran a story stating US green berets were building permanent bases on the offshore islands of Kinmen and Penghu. You can actually see China’s skyscrapers with the naked eye from there. This news was a major shock to the world and was re-run by dozens outlets. This is the very definition of big if true!
But a decision like that would have had to be cleared by the US INDO PACIFIC commander Admiral John (Ah-kee-LEE-noh) Aquilino. He’s the guy in charge of operations in this region. Here’s what he had to say about that story when the U.S. House Armed Services Committee asked him about it: 2:00:00
So the U.S government is firmly denying that’s the case. The denial is consistent with the broader U.S. foreign policy of strategic ambiguity regarding Taiwan. So the big question is are these soldiers actually permanently deployed or rotational? What’s the difference between rotational and permanent stationed troops and why does the distinction even matter?
Here’s the facts that we know for certain. This United States congressional research document says 40 US personnel helped trained Taiwnese troops in 2023 on a rotational basis. What were those 40 doing? The US Defense Department said they were responsible for guarding the American institute in Taiwan which is the unofficial US embassy in the country.
The U.S keeps any training relatively quiet so as not to provoke China. They state “U.S.-Taiwan defense cooperation is robust, but has been conducted largely out of the public eye due to the unofficial nature of the U.S.-Taiwan relationship and concerns that significant, public enhancements of defense ties could provoke Beijing to step up coercion and threats against the island, or even trigger the conflict the United States seeks to deter.”
But We also know that a year later In 2024 the number of rotational US military personnel in Taiwan increased from 40 to as many as 200. It seems unlikely they’re also just guarding the American institute.
We can get a pretty good idea of what their missions is by looking at the annual National Defense Authorization Act. The National Defense Authorization Act is a United States federal law that governors the policies of the U.S. Department of Defense. It’s Passed by Congress, and it’s critical for outlining defense strategy. Congress has required that the US military do several things “practical training and military exercises with Taiwan” as well as maintain “exchanges between defense officials of the United States and Taiwan at the strategic, policy, and functional levels.” Then there is the 2023 Taiwan ENHANCED RESILIENCE act which requires the US military to do a full audit of Taiwan’s ability to defend it’s critical infrastructure including it’s transportation and communications networks. It requires a full rundown be made on Taiwan’s ability to employ their long range precision fires and missile defense systems. Us special Forces could be tasked with making these assessments and recommendations.
written by: Chris Cappy and Patrick Griffin
Edited by: Michael Michaelides
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