Last week, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry announced it had signed a deal with the US under which the US will send military personnel to the island for a naval training program.
The US has a history of sending personnel to train Taiwanese forces, but the training programs are typically not publicized for fear of provoking China. A source told Taipei Times that the announcement marked the first time Taipei had officially announced a “specialized training program” with the US.
The Taipei Times report said the US was changing its “low-key and confidential training approach to a semi-public approach, testing political and public reactions.”
Taiwan’s last president, Tsai ing-Wen, was the first to confirm the presence of US troops on the island since Washington and Taipei severed relations in 1979, an acknowledgment she made in 2021.
Last year, Taiwan confirmed that US Green Berets had been deployed to Kinmen County, a group of small islands that are just a few miles off the coast of mainland China.
The naval training deal, signed between Taiwan’s Navy and the US’s de facto embassy in Taiwan, is worth $1.5 million, and the training program is expected to last until the end of 2026. Details of the training are unclear, but Taipei Times said it will likely involve amphibious combat training.
The Biden administration significantly increased US support for Taiwan, including by providing US-funded military aid for the first time, steps that China has warned strongly against. The US military is also openly planning for a future war with China over Taiwan despite the risk of nuclear war.
The Trump administration is expected to continue the hard line on China as Trump nominated China hawks to fill key cabinet roles, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In a signal to China, Rubio’s first meeting after being sworn in was with diplomats from the Quad nations, which the US views as a potential foundation for a NATO-style alliance in Asia.
