US-Taiwan secret military exercises have moved to public

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, September 19, 2003

US-Taiwan secret military exercises have moved to public

According to a report of Taiwan's CNA on August 31, the 2004 "defense budget statement" submitted by Taiwan "defense Ministry" to the "Legislative Yuan" on Aug. 29 openly states that Taiwan's air force will send delegates to participate in US air force "silver flag exercises". Till now, US-Taiwan secret joint military exercises have become public.

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According to a report of Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) on August 31, the 2004 "defense budget statement" submitted by Taiwan "defense Ministry" to the "Legislative Yuan" on August 29 openly states that Taiwan's air force will send delegates to participate in US air force "silver flag exercises".

On January 1, Taiwan's China Times disclosed for the first time that U.S. troops joined Taiwan's "Hankuang 19" exercise that began in April in the name of the "team of withdrawing American nationals". Till now, US-Taiwan secret joint military exercises have become public.

Joint military maneuvers have so far been going on "secretly"

Since Chen Shui-bien came to power in Taiwan, he has begun to vigorously promote US-Taiwan military cooperation in order to get the protective umbrella from the United States in his pursuit of "Taiwan independence". The important means for this purpose is realization of joint military exercise between the two sides.

In April 2001, in less than one year after he took office, Chen Shui-bien stated for the first time that Taiwan hoped to take part in the joint military maneuvers held in the West Pacific Ocean by the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK). Interviewed by Washington Times on July 16, Chen Shui-bien said that Taiwan-US relationship involves "not only military exchange, moreover, military cooperation is more important" and "the training and education of personnel is as important as the purchase of weapons, the enhancement of trained abilities of battlefield management and the joint drills among different military departments are equally very important" for both sides. On July 17, a Taiwan "Defense Ministry" spokesman claimed that the Taiwan army "will not rule out the possibility for joint military exercises with the US forces.

According to a Taiwan media report, for many years, Taiwan's dispatch of troops to join US military exercises has never been made public under the tacit agreement between the two sides. But this news was made known to the public for the first time by the aforesaid "defense budget statement" in its open section. Reports say that Taiwan's air force, besides participating in US troops' logistic (silver-flag drill), sent its fighter plane pilots to join US air force's "red-flag drill", practicing to fight enemy planes together with American fighter planes and learning the experience of joint operations by fighters. According to the news disclosed by Taiwan military, Taiwan air force dispatched seven pilots for the first time in August last year to join the "silver-flag drill", and it will send eight pilots to take part in the second drill next year.

Large batch of naval personnel to receive training in USA

Since the mid-1990s, the United States and Taiwan have kept upgrading their military cooperation, developing gradually from consultation on arms sales to specialized technology guide, military personnel training, shared intelligence, mutual visits of senior officers, strategic dialogs, joint training, joint military exercise, as well as coordinated operations and the drafting of operational plans. US-Taiwan military relationship is developing in the direction toward "joint exercise", "allied operation" and "military alliance".

In the "defense budge statement", the Taiwan military clearly listed a number of projects on sending Taiwan military personnel to the United States for military exchange, including the dispatch of personnel to the United States for viewing and emulating joint exercise of planes and warships and amphibious combat drill. The KIDD destroyer personnel receive the largest-scale training in the United States for a period of one year, with the first group numbering 864 personnel. According to Taiwan media statistics, Taiwan military personnel will receive 75 items of training in the United States next year, including attending conferences, and viewing and emulating.

Apart from joining the military drills of US army, Taiwan also dispatches staff to the United States for "advanced studies" by taking advantage of the opportunity of taking military equipment. Now, US military academies and some non-military agencies also "open the gate" wide for Taiwan, increasing enrolment greatly. The senior generals, middle-level commanders, pilots and military scientists and technicians are admitted to inspect, emulate and receive training in the United States. In addition, the Taiwan military also seek to institutionalize inspecting and training in the United States, and Taiwan's "Defense Ministry" has officially worked out the amount of funds for these long-term activities.

US Army joins "Hankuang 19" drill

According to a Taiwan media report, after the commencement of the "Hankuang 19" drill, the United States dispatched a 20-member guidance team to join the drill. During this period, the American team watched the missile trial fire in Ilan and the trial fire of rockets and cannons, visited the "Defense Ministry", Headquarters of Staff, Hengshan Commanding Position under Taiwan's operational commanding center, putting forward its corrective opinions on Taiwan military's strategy, tactics and troops training.

In fact, as early as April 2001, US army had begun to dispatch its active field officers to join the whole course of Taiwan's "Hankuang 17" military drill. The officials from the US Defense Department had publicly indicated that the American personnel would carefully "observe and assess" Taiwan's military situation before leaving for Taiwan and help enhance Taiwan forces' capability for military maneuvers. As a sub-item of the "Hankuang 17" drill, the trial fire of "Patriot" missile was conducted totally under the guidance of American officers. When the "Hankuang 18" drill started in April 2002, the American army dispatched a major general from its Pacific Headquarters to Taiwan to inspect and guide the drill. Besides, American military evaluation teams were dispatched to assist Taiwan forces to formulate and revise their operational plans and discuss operational tactics. As reported by Taiwan's media, the US military forces have sent out over 10 assessment teams to Taiwan to make a comprehensive appraisal of Taiwan's naval, air and ground defensive systems, as well as Taiwan armed forces' combat effectiveness.

With deepening military cooperation with the United States, some "Taiwan independence" elements think that the US-Taiwan joint military drills seem to have created a de facto US-Taiwan military-political alliance". However, this line of action by Taiwan authorities can only aggravate the tense situation in the Taiwan Straits, unhelpful to improving cross-Strait relationship.

By PD Online Staff Liu Wei

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