US Warship Enters Taiwan Strait as 200 US Soldiers Arrive in Taiwan

The warship USS Milius passed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday in what the US Navy described as a “routine” passage on Monday, only days after US soldiers arrived in Taiwan.

China, which considers Taiwan to be its own territory, formally concluded three days of exercises around Taiwan on Monday, during which it practised precision attacks and blockading the island.

It organised the drills in response to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which it saw as an intervention in Chinese internal affairs and US support for Taiwan’s separate identity from China.

The USS Milius, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, made a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” in waters “where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law,” according to Reuters.

The transit of the ship underlines the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, it added.

China Monitoring US Warship

In a social media statement on Monday, the Chinese military’s Eastern Theatre Command stated it had organised personnel to track and monitor the US warship throughout its operation.

According to Taiwan’s defence ministry, the ship went north via the strait and the situation in the strait was “as normal” during its transit.

The US Navy sends warships through the strait around once a month, and it also undertakes similar freedom of passage missions in the disputed South China Sea on a regular basis.

The USS Milius cruised last week near Mischief Reef, one of the most prominent man-made and Chinese-controlled islands in the South China Sea. Beijing called it illegal.

Since the drills finished, China has continued its military activities around Taiwan, albeit on a smaller scale.

Taiwan’s defence ministry reported on Monday morning that it had detected 18 Chinese military aircraft and four naval vessels moving around Taiwan in the previous 24 hours.

China has never abandoned the use of force to seize democratically controlled Taiwan.

US Troops in Taiwan

According to the Taiwan News, the United States has sent more than 200 troops to Taiwan to train Taiwan’s armed forces. US officials said in February that 100 to 200 soldiers would be sent to Taiwan to train.

According to military sources, the US Indo-Pacific Command has dispatched more than 200 military trainers to Taiwan to help local forces in training and to suggest changes.

80% of the more than 200 instructors are from the United States Army. The majority of the American instructors are assigned to Taiwan’s Army’s new training centres and reserve brigades.

The instructors from the United States Army will provide on-the-spot training evaluations and recommendations. Taiwan will begin the one-year compulsory service period next year, and recruit training will follow the combat training programmes provided by the United States military in order to deal with the People’s Liberation Army.

According to the source, Taiwan Air Force pilots and other personnel have been trained for many years at Luke Air Force Base in Maricopa County, Arizona. The Taiwan Navy’s Dunmu “Goodwill Fleet” frequently conducts cooperative training and other exchanges with US Navy ships during its multi-week cruise.

Given this background of prior exchanges, barely 20% of the current crop of US trainers are from the US Navy or Air Force, and are primarily “specialised instructors.” Despite the fact that the Taiwan Army has special operations personnel who are trained by American instructors, the US military has decided that there is a training gap between the Taiwan Army’s grassroots units and combat tactics education.

US Training Taiwanese Soldiers

As a result, over 160 of the instructors dispatched by the United States Indo-Pacific Command are non-commissioned officers with combat experience. In addition to being stationed in Taiwan’s Army’s key combat units, the majority of these instructors visit army recruiting centres and reserve brigades to inspect basic training and propose enhanced training methods to improve Taiwan’s Army’s overall combat effectiveness.

US military instructors reportedly invaded Chiashan Air Force Base in Hualien County in early April to re-evaluate the safety of the bunkers, such as explosion-proof and protective facilities, particularly the safety of places where fighter planes and ammunition are stored. They also investigated whether satellites can identify munitions stored in the open air and the area where fighter jets are housed. They then offered measures to increase bunker security facilities in order to limit weapon damage.

Taiwan’s Army’s defence plan

Military exercises between Taiwan and the United States are said to be taking place within the scope of the National Defence Authorization Act. According to the US military assessment, Taiwan’s Army’s defence plan has many faults and may not be able to adequately respond to the PLA’s modernized and quick attacks.

The United States proposed that the Taiwan Army begin with the most basic recruit training and reserve brigade training to increase its combat power. As a result, at this point, the majority of US Army trainers are stationed in Taiwan’s new training centre and reserve brigades to assess whether recruit training and teaching and training of reserve soldiers fulfil the needs of defensive operations.

In terms of the Taiwan Armed Forces Reserve, U.S. Army personnel were present for the first civil defence mobilisation and disaster prevention and rescue exercise (Min’an No. 8) held in Taichung City a year ago. On March 23, the 117th Brigade of the Army’s Eighth Corps started a fresh 14-day training and training exercise, which two alleged US military members watched and photographed.

US army instructors will provide a comprehensive report on the reserve brigade and the new training centre in the second part of this year. After clearance by the Ministry of National Defence, recruits’ training will be based on the new US military ideas when the one-year compulsory service resumes next year.