US Green Beret presence on Taiwan’s outer islands signals expanded military cooperation

Editor’s Note: This piece by Venus Upadhayaya features quotes from CSP Senior Fellow, Grant Newsham.

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.

Before presenting a report on Chinese military activities March 14 at the Taiwanese legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee, Mr. Chiu interacted with the press and confirmed that U.S. Army Green Berets are permanently stationed at the Taiwanese army’s amphibious command centers in Kinmen and Penghu, Taiwanese national news CNA reported last Thursday.

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.

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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,” said Mr. Newsham, author of the just launched book “When China Attacks: A Warning to America.”

“Are the Special Forces a ’trip wire’ of sorts? Maybe so,” he said.

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Mr. Newsham said that 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.