Washington, 24 February (GNP): With a potential threat from China, the United States government announced intentions to raise the number of troops deployed to Taiwan to bolster the training of Taiwanese military forces.
However, the number of US soldiers who will participate in the expanded training activities is not yet revealed.
Up from about 30 troops there a year ago, the U.S. expects to send between 100 and 200 troops to the island in the upcoming months.
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Tsai Ing-wen, the President of Taiwan, said this while speaking with a bipartisan US congressional delegation on Tuesday that the two countries will collaborate even stronger together to expand military exchanges.
The resilient military and economic partnership have been the subject of discussions with political, corporate, and military officials, according to a congressional aide to one of the Democratic Members of the delegation.
“The Communist Party of China’s disinformation & influence campaign against Taiwan should also be addressed through deeper cooperation with the United States”, he added.
According to Defense Department data, the quantity of US troops in Taiwan including special-operations forces and U.S. Marines has little wavered in prior years.
The projected expansion would be the biggest US army deployment in Taiwan in decades as the two countries are working together to fight China’s expanding military might.
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The expansion, according to U.S. sources, had been planned for months, even before this month’s sudden deterioration between Sino-US ties as an alleged Chinese spy balloon glided across North America for almost a week before being blown to bits by the U.S Military.
Recently, China’s People’s Liberation Army is persistently engaging in “provocative operations”, sending planes and ships close to Taiwan, as a decades-long military buildup gains speed.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, the Pentagon has increased its attempts to help Taiwan in embracing a more powerful military system.
US officials declared that the surplus troops will be entrusted with training Taiwanese forces in military exercises as well as U.S. weaponry to defend against a feasible Chinese invasion.
On Friday, The deployment of Taiwanese troops to the United States was confirmed by Chiu Kuo-cheng, Taiwan’s Minister of Defense, who highlighted that the training extends beyond simple warfare skills-set.
Greater defense coordination between the US and Taiwan has alarmed Beijing, which accuses Washington of violating prior agreements to keep informal ties with Taipei.
The foreign ministry of China declared that Beijing will take anonymous measures to safeguard its interests.
One of the US officials responded by stating that it can be confusing to determine exactly what China finds offensive.
“We don’t think at the levels that we’re engaged in and are likely to remain engaged shortly that we are anywhere close to a tipping point for China, but that’s a question that is constantly being evaluated and looked at specifically with every decision involving support to Taiwan”, he said.