In a recent strategic development from the Taiwan Strait, U.S. forces are now stationed on the frontline Taiwanese islands of Kinmen and Penghu, according to Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng.
Experts termed the Special Forces’ presence an expansion of the military cooperation between traditional allies—the United States and Taiwan—and said the development shows that U.S. forces are present at Taiwan’s frontline on a more or less constant basis, with the United States finally doing what’s needed to break Taiwan from strategic isolation.
“The media reported that the U.S. Army [Special Forces] has appeared on the outlying islands, indicating that the scope of military cooperation between Taiwan and the United States has gradually expanded from sea and air cooperation to offshore islands ground operations,” Ming-Shih Shen, director of national security research at Taipei’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told The Epoch Times in an email.
Kinmen is only a few kilometers away from China, while the Penghu archipelago is about 30 miles west of Taiwan. Both these outlaying islands form an important stretch of Taiwan’s frontline with China.
Satoru Nagao, a nonresident fellow at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, told The Epoch Times that the constant presence of U.S. forces on Taiwan’s frontline islands will make it more difficult for China to attack these islands.
“[The] recent situation indicates that China is trying to attack Kinmen Island. In recent years, China has also modernized its military forces at a rapid pace and the military balance has changed. Therefore there is a real possibility that China will attack Taiwan by using military forces if they can win,” Mr. Nagao said.
China observers have noted that Chinese leader Xi Jinping needs an “honorable achievement” that can legitimize his fourth term before 2028. That’s why many experts have warned of an impending invasion of Taiwan, including the recently confirmed head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Samuel Paparo, and CIA Director William Burns.
The admiral said at a February Defense Department summit that Chinese actions are “raising the threshold of warning” to the point where China could quickly launch a surprise offensive from military drills.
However, the presence of U.S. forces in Kinmen and Penghu changes the equation, according to Mr. Nagao.
In this geopolitical context, Mr. Chiu’s confirmation to the media that U.S. forces are near the Chinese coast is also timed tactically, he said.
“This information is leaked to indicate that China’s attack on Kinmen could escalate into a U.S.–China war. There’s a possibility that the Taiwanese side [wants] to deter China by revealing this news,” Mr. Nagao said.
Building Military Capacities
Mr. Chiu said U.S. forces on the islands are involved in training and conducting regular exercises with Taiwanese special forces. The military exchange involves mutual observation, learning strengths, and improving weaknesses, he said.Grant Newsham, a retired U.S. Marine Colonel and a senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, told The Epoch Times in an email that the daily contact with U.S. Special Forces will have a beneficial effect on Taiwan’s military capabilities.
“And don’t forget the psychological effect of Taiwan (both its military and civilian population) having U.S. forces finally treating them like friends. It bolsters morale—and also gives some substance to U.S. promises of support—that were ringing hollow, and had been for a long time,” Mr. Newsham, author of the new book “When China Attacks: A Warning to America,” said.
“Are the Special Forces a ’trip wire' of sorts? Maybe so,” he said.
The U.S. Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets, are America’s premier special operations force—they are experts in unconventional warfare, counterterrorism, foreign internal defense, reconnaissance, direct action, hostage rescue, and other strategic missions.
However, they are not meant for a military offensive against China, according to Mr. Nagao.
The Green Berets’ role in Taiwan is not combat, he said.
“Their main role is supporting local armed forces to train and organize well. In this case, they are training Taiwan’s defense forces,” Mr. Nagao said, noting that the presence of the Green Berets is not direct U.S. military intervention.
The presence of Green Berets also signifies that Taiwan values the importance of special operations in ground action, an importance that is increasing daily, according to Mr. Shen.
In the U.S. concept of multidomain operations, having guerrillas or special operations forces behind enemy lines is very important, he said.
“In addition to offshore island operations, whether it is maritime guerrilla warfare, urban guerrilla warfare, mountain guerrilla warfare, etc., [they] all require the assistance and training of special operations forces,” Mr. Shen said.
Mr. Newsham said small Special Forces teams have been training with Taiwanese forces for several years, but not on this scale and regularity—and not on Kinmen and other offshore islands.
“Taiwan Army units are training in Michigan with U.S. Army National Guard units. And that is probably a bigger deal than the Special Forces on Kinmen,” he said.
Breaking Taiwan’s Isolation
The presence of U.S. forces in the frontline islands has a bearing on Taiwan’s presence on the global geopolitical forefront, according to experts, and is thus of strategic interest.“It’s good to see the Americans are finally doing what’s necessary to break Taiwan out of 40 years of isolation when it came to military-to-military engagement,” Mr. Newsham said.
Taiwan’s unique situation “left the Taiwanese forces in a time-warp of sorts, and they didn’t develop the necessary capabilities that a modern military needs to have,” he said.
The issue is not whether the U.S. Special Forces have a base on Kinmen, but that they have a presence on the island on a more or less constant basis, he said.
However, since the United States hasn’t officially announced the presence of Green Berets in Kinmen and Penghu, Mr. Nagao called it a “covert operation.” The low-profile presence indicates the sensitivity of U.S. policy toward Taiwan, he stressed.
“The U.S. respects [the] ‘one China policy,’ which is that Taiwan is a part of China,” Mr. Nagao said, although the policy is China’s policy, not U.S. policy. “The U.S. government does not want to advertise the presence of the U.S. forces in Taiwan as a formal intervention [in] this China–Taiwan conflict.”
At the same time, in addition to its goal of defending Taiwan, the United States needs Taiwan as part of its strategy to counter China, Mr. Nagao said. Taiwan is in strategic proximity to coastal cities of China that are also of core economic interest to China.
“The U.S. needs to respect China’s opinion to avoid escalation, but the U.S. must defend Taiwan,” he said.
Revealing the U.S. presence in Taiwan through the media instead of through a government statement sends a “balanced message.”
Through cooperative training with the United States, Mr. Shen said, Taiwan can understand the international trends and development priorities of joint operations, which is very important for improving the training concepts and culture of Taiwan’s troops.
“Of course, more importantly, it can lay the foundation for future U.S.–Taiwan alliance operations,” he said.
