In rare move, Taiwan confirms U.S. Marines' presence for training

[F-22Raptor]

In what was reportedly the first such public acknowledgment in 40-plus years, Taiwan’s naval command has confirmed the arrival of U.S. Marines on the island to train Taiwanese forces.

Responding to media reports about the Marines’ presence, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry confirmed the move in a short statement on its website Monday.




“In order to maintain regional peace and stability, the military and security cooperation and exchanges between Taiwan and the U.S. are proceeding normally,” it said without elaborating.

Local media reported the same day that the Marine Raiders, the U.S. branch’s special operations force, began training Taiwanese Marines on Monday in assault boat and speedboat infiltration operations at the Tsoying Naval Base in the city of Kaohsiung.

Although American forces have visited Taiwan to help train the island’s military, including for annual training sessions, this was believed to be the first time either Taipei or Washington had publicly confirmed the presence of such U.S. Marines on Taiwanese soil.

In June, a video posted to the official Facebook group page of the U.S. Army’s 1st Special Forces Group appeared to show green berets training with Taiwanese forces, but there was no formal confirmation of that training.

Monday’s reported kickoff of training was the first military exchange between Taiwanese and foreign military forces since the coronavirus pandemic halted such activities some seven to eight months ago, according to local media.

China’s state-run Global Times tabloid also confirmed the news, noting that “the U.S. military’s presence in Taiwan used to be an open secret, and neither side actively gave publicity to related developments.”

Monday’s acknowledgement by Taipei comes amid growing rancor and competition between China and the U.S. and fears that this could devolve into conflict — with Taiwan caught in the middle.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/11/10/asia-pacific/taiwan-us-marines-training/

 

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Excellent, this just confirmed that Pompeo is an idiot. can’t wait when China use this against USA in the future.

 

[ILC]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1327096872587063296

 

[xuxu1457]

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November 11, 2020 • No Comments
Pentagon Denies Reports That Marines Are Training Taiwan’s Military
On Wednesday, the Pentagon denied reports that said a special operations unit of the US Marines was training with forces in Taiwan. The denial came after Taiwan publicly acknowledged the presence of US troops on the island for the first time in decades.

Taiwanese media reported that US Marine Raiders were on the island to train Taiwan’s military for a four-week exercise and cited a statement from Taipei’s defense ministry. But Pentagon spokesman John Supple called the reports “inaccurate” in comments to Stars and Stripes. “The United States remains committed to our One-China Policy,” Supple said.

The “One-China Policy” refers to the official position Washington took in 1979 when it severed diplomatic relations with Taipei and formally recognized Beijing. Since then, the US has supplied the island with military support through arms sales and military training, although neither side publicly acknowledges the exercises.

“The United States will continue to make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities,” Supple said.

The Trump administration continues the tradition of arming Taiwan and recently advanced multiple weapons packages bound for Taipei. One of the deals moved forward in October includes cruise-missiles and truck-based rocket launchers capable of reaching the coast of mainland China. It is the first time since the diplomatic shift that the US is providing Taiwan with meaningful offensive weapons systems.

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They just went full backtrack on this. Pity I would have prefer having Chinese troops in Iran, Ukraine or in Syria.