U.S Special Forces Deploy to Taiwan

Are US special Forces permanently stationed in Taiwan’s just 3 miles from mainland china? In early 2024 Taiwan’s United Daily News publication ran a story stating US green berets were building permanent bases on the offshore islands of Kinmen and Penghu. You can actually see China’s skyscrapers with the naked eye from there. This news was a major shock to the world and was re-run by dozens outlets. This is the very definition of big if true!

But a decision like that would have had to be cleared by the US INDO PACIFIC commander Admiral John (Ah-kee-LEE-noh) Aquilino. He’s the guy in charge of operations in this region. Here’s what he had to say about that story when the U.S. House Armed Services Committee asked him about it: 2:00:00

So the U.S government is firmly denying that’s the case. The denial is consistent with the broader U.S. foreign policy of strategic ambiguity regarding Taiwan. So the big question is are these soldiers actually permanently deployed or rotational? What’s the difference between rotational and permanent stationed troops and why does the distinction even matter?

Here’s the facts that we know for certain. This United States congressional research document says 40 US personnel helped trained Taiwnese troops in 2023 on a rotational basis. What were those 40 doing? The US Defense Department said they were responsible for guarding the American institute in Taiwan which is the unofficial US embassy in the country.

The U.S keeps any training relatively quiet so as not to provoke China. They state “U.S.-Taiwan defense cooperation is robust, but has been conducted largely out of the public eye due to the unofficial nature of the U.S.-Taiwan relationship and concerns that significant, public enhancements of defense ties could provoke Beijing to step up coercion and threats against the island, or even trigger the conflict the United States seeks to deter.”

But We also know that a year later In 2024 the number of rotational US military personnel in Taiwan increased from 40 to as many as 200. It seems unlikely they’re also just guarding the American institute.

We can get a pretty good idea of what their missions is by looking at the annual National Defense Authorization Act. The National Defense Authorization Act is a United States federal law that governors the policies of the U.S. Department of Defense. It’s Passed by Congress, and it's critical for outlining defense strategy. Congress has required that the US military do several things “practical training and military exercises with Taiwan” as well as maintain “exchanges between defense officials of the United States and Taiwan at the strategic, policy, and functional levels.” Then there is the 2023 Taiwan ENHANCED RESILIENCE act which requires the US military to do a full audit of Taiwan’s ability to defend it’s critical infrastructure including it’s transportation and communications networks. It requires a full rundown be made on Taiwan’s ability to employ their long range precision fires and missile defense systems. Us special Forces could be tasked with making these assessments and recommendations.

written by: Chris Cappy and Patrick Griffin
Edited by: Michael Michaelides

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[allgrainbrewer]

The general denied there was a PERMANENT base, not that there is currently a base.

[Johnzen]

West Taiwan is going to be super mad at this.

[JonnoPlays]

The USA can not allow the chip manufacturer TSM to become taken over by China. We rely on these chips for all our military equipment. We all saw the way the American car market was disrupted when they couldn't get access to these chips for vehicle production. The military has the exact same problem. It's why we are building TSM an American chip manufacturing plant even though they are not a USA company. Look into that deal for some real interesting wheeling and dealing. The fact that we even accepted that deal shows how reliant we are on those chips.

[jimmcfarland]

The US needs to rebuild its industrial base, regardless of these other important issues.

[jern_huang]

My grandpa served as an officer in R.O.C​ MP passed away on Sunday at the age of 97. He fought in Kinmen Island before. If PLA invaded us again, I'll be there defending our country just like he used to 🇹🇼

[Model_Student]

“Permanently” deployed doesn’t mean non-rotational. It means that a certain amount of force maintains a continuous presence. On other words, rotating personnel can still make up a permanent troop deployment.

[RonJohn]

0:52 "there is no *permanent* stationing of US forces there." Meaning that they're _temporarily_ there.

[nedks]

I like how professional this chap is and understands the inherent costs to war and doesn’t act like a warmonger

[benashbaugh]

As my coworker from Taiwan told me, "We Taiwanese are ethincally Chinese, but the Taiwanese ain't no Chinaman."

[Hitjuich]

Whats up with the audio at 17:23 - 17:30?

[kqkeybk]

China blockades Taiwan,
USA blockades China (Strait of Malacca, etc.).

[Cyber-Roaming]

17:20, big oof by the editor. Didnt understand anything for about 5 seconds XD Top quality outside of that

[DH-.]

Taiwan is important, we need to keep our microchip factories safe.

[dirtysink]

If we’ve learned anything from Russia, it is that red lines of these bullies are not as red as they claim them to be

[JustThatOneRandomGuy]

Fun fact: Kinmen is also home to the Army Frogmen (in taiwan there’s the marine and there’s army frogmen) and their sole purpose is to conduct unconventional warfare against China. On their last day of training, they have to crawl, fall, and grind their way through a path of coral reefs while instructors spray saltwater on them and forcing them to redo it.

[danzwku]

11:40 important to note that we in Taiwan don't have to "declare independence" as we aren't, and have never been, a part of the PRC. The PRC has NEVER held Taiwan in ANY century, decade, year, month, week, day, hour, minute, or second in history. It's NEVER happened before. More importantly, they do not have the consent of the people. The Taiwanese don't want to be annexed by the PRC. We don't want to be a part of them. And for good reason. Actually, THEY were the ones that declared independence from our government, not the other way around. Just like the Confederacy declared independence from the Union and seceded. THEY seceded from US. It would be like if the Confederacy won the civil war and wants to completely destroy the Union.

Our government, the ROC, was a * founding member * of the United Nations. What happened in 1971 was a tragic mistake, but the resolution that passed, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, does not mention Taiwan. The PRC and other campist types will try to convince you that this resolution means that Taiwan is under the PRC, but that is false. It only state who should represent China in the UN.

(b)(3) of the Taiwan Relations Act. It reads, "the United States decision to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China rests upon the expectation that the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means;"

But what happens if the PRC does not use peaceful means with Taiwan? As a non violent, soft power form of deterrence, the US should state right now that if the PRC does not use peaceful means and uses force or coercion, that the US and its allies would re-recognize the ROC/Taiwan.

[jacksontaylor]

Pretty sure they’ve already been there for a while….

[ttrestle]

I’m completely fine with them being there. US Green Berets are the only special forces division of special operations and are perfectly suited for training the indigenous population on war fighting. I hope they stay in Taiwan for many years to come.

[complicatedworld]

Kinmen base might be too risky. We all know if a war broke out, Kinmen defense would be overwhelmed quickly no matter how much of Taiwan's limited resource deployed there.

[Doug-rvnr]

I was going to get Hello Fresh but Cappy didn't make a spare parts joke about his ability to cook rocks and grass when deployed...