Taiwan and the US are increasing their diplomatic and military cooperation. Soon, hundreds of Taiwanese troops will be sent to the US for training.
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High level diplomatic meetings and inter-military exchanges, Taiwan-US cooperation is stepping up. A report on Wednesday revealed that a battalion of Taiwanese troops would be sent to the US to train with American forces. The battalion will be the largest contingent of Taiwanese troops ever to receive training in the US.
Chieh Chung (揭仲), a researcher at the Association of Strategic Foresight said the training would be hugely beneficial for Taiwanese troops. Because Taiwan’s territory is so small, it limits the types of real-world training environments available, while the US larger facilities can simulate almost any situation. Although extremely beneficial to the Taiwanese military, Chieh voiced concerns about the cost of such training. He suggested that Taiwan should negotiate to have the US cover the expenses through a loan or grant.
In the past, US training of Taiwanese troops was kept very low key, with President Tsai Ing-wen only confirming US training in 2021. [insert CNN clip]
Reports about the training agreement came out as high level meetings between US and Taiwanese officials took place just outside Washington DC. This was a historic meeting, marking the first time that a Taiwanese foreign minister has been invited by the US government to visit the DC area since the end of diplomatic relations in 1979. With both diplomatic and defense ties being upgraded, it seems that Taiwan-US relations are warming up.