Commentary
U.S. policy on China is getting overturned one boot at a time.
In a first since 1979, U.S. military forces are reported to be “permanently” based in Taiwan. They are not just on the main island, and they are not regular troops. They are U.S. Army Green Beret commandos stationed on Kinmen Island, which at its closest point is just a
mile from the mainland.
The commandos, who are members of the U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF), are the first U.S. troops “permanently” based in Taiwan since the
withdrawal of 1979. They are now engaged in “
permanent co-training” at amphibious bases on Kinmen and elsewhere in Taiwan, according to a report early last month in Taiwan’s media.
Taiwan’s military is getting trained in the Black Hornet Nano, a micro-UAV with surveillance capabilities that include thermal imaging. The UAV has the range to reach mainland China from Kinmen and costs an eye-watering $195,000 each. Its noise and visual signatures are extremely hard to detect, and it is small enough to be held in the palm of one hand.
The
Berets now reportedly provide UAV training not only on Kinmen but also on the Matsu and Penghu islands, as well as on the Tamsui River that leads to the capital city of Taipei.
Other than a small number of
U.S. Marines who guard diplomatic personnel, no other U.S. troops are reported to be permanently based in Taiwan. In 2020, an unconfirmed additional deployment of U.S. Marines was reported. That year, the Trump administration declassified plans for a “combat-credible” military deployment around Taiwan. Only since 2021 have Taiwan and U.S. sources acknowledged U.S. SOF in Taiwan, but only on “
rotational” deployments.
The
United States planned to expand its troops in Taiwan from about 30 in 2022 to between 100 and 200 in 2023. Their mission is reportedly to train, but they also serve as a “tripwire” to deter an invasion. If U.S. troops suffer losses, public pressure will increase for a U.S. intervention, thus increasing ex-ante deterrence.
U.S. Special Operations Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last month, Taiwan’s coast guard accused
four fishermen from China of trespassing in Taiwan’s territorial waters surrounding Kinmen. Following an attempted boarding of their craft and chase, their boat capsized, and two died. Taiwan’s Coast Guard rescued the other two. Negotiations continue with the mainland, which wants an official apology and hundreds of thousands of dollars in reparations paid to each fisherman’s family.
If the fishermen were, in fact, trespassing, mainland China should pay, not Taiwan. Beijing is responsible for creating an environment of lawlessness in the Taiwan Strait by claiming sovereignty over Taiwan, which makes the CCP fully accountable for the deaths of its confused—or worse—fishermen.
On Feb. 18, China announced an increase in patrols around Kinmen and searched a
Taiwan tour boat. The tour boats continue to operate, but the
Kinmen fishing industry is on hold as its ships are restricted to harbor by Taiwan. On Feb. 29,
11 Chinese Coast Guard ships reportedly surrounded Kinmen Island in the context of the ninth round of negotiations over the capsized ship.
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) aggression and increasing number of U.S. troops in Taiwan are changing U.S. policy on China. In 1972, Taiwan hosted approximately 10,000 U.S. troops. They were withdrawn rapidly over the next six years. By
1978, President Jimmy Carter halved U.S. forces in Taiwan to 750 as part of “normalization” with the mainland that also included moves to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan, extend full diplomatic relations to Beijing, allow 500 Chinese students to study in the United States, and negotiate over the sale of a communications satellite to China.
With hindsight, those policies now appear morally bankrupt and self-defeating. Given that China is increasingly aggressive and totalitarian under Xi Jinping, all of the “normalization” with China that occurred after 1972 is beginning to reverse. This reverse normalization should now accelerate.
As former U.S. defense official
Joseph Bosco noted in 2022, Beijing is trying to gaslight the United States on the Taiwan issue. “After 50 years, China now claims the entire Taiwan Strait as Chinese waters, never contemplated at the time of the Shanghai Communiqué” that initiated the U.S. withdrawal. “Beijing has nullified it; it’s time for Washington to declare its One China-One Taiwan policy and return U.S. forces to Taiwan.”
U.S. troops in a free and sovereign Taiwan should again be increased back to 10,000 or more. Diplomatic relations with the mainland should be chilled in favor of full recognition for Taiwan. Technology export restrictions on China should increase lest they use our technology to kill Americans and our allies.
To that end, Chinese nationals should be banned from science, technology, engineering, and math subjects in U.S. and allied universities, laboratories, and businesses. Those who forget the history of mainland China’s 1950s attacks on Taiwan and U.S. soldiers in the Koreas are doomed to repeat it.
U.S. Green Berets are now within visual sight of mainland China, at the tip of the spear that defends democracy from the CCP. Let’s support those troops all the way.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
