Taipei: A small number of US troops in Taiwan to train with Taiwanese soldiers, President Tsai Ing – Wen said in an interview with CNN, confirming the presence of US forces on the island of government itself which is considered to belong to China.
Tensions between Taiwan and China, who have not ruled out carrying islands to force, has increased in recent weeks because Beijing increases military and political pressure.
“We have various cooperation with the US which aims to improve our defense capabilities,” Tsai told CNN in an interview aired on Thursday.
Asked how many members of the US service were deployed in Taiwan, he only said that it was “not as much as he thought”.
The confirmation arose when China sharply increased military pressure on Taiwan, including a recurring mission by Chinese fighter aircraft in the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone.
While several Taiwanese and international media outlets including Reuters previously reported such training with US forces, official confirmation of the next confirmation could worsen US-China’s relationships when Beijing conducted muscular military exercises near Taiwan.
Asked about Tsai’s comments, Taiwan’s Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-Cheng told reporters of Taiwan-US military interactions “quite a lot and quite often” and have been going on for a long time.
“During this exchange, any topic can be discussed,” he said.
But he added that TSAI did not say that US forces were permanently based, or garnishered, in Taiwan, in response to the questions of parliamentarians that if they then this could be the excuse for China to attack the island.
“There is no connection between the exchange of personnel and troops,” Chiu said.
The United States attracted permanent-based forces in Taiwan when deciding diplomatic relations with Taipei supported Beijing in 1979.
Taiwan did send his F-16 pilot to be trained in the United States, at the Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.
The United States, like most countries, does not have a formal diplomatic bond with Taiwan but is a supplier of international weapons and the most important main weapons.
Tsai said Taiwan was an independent country and repeatedly vowed to defend democracy and its freedom.
Asked about reports on US forces in Taiwan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said earlier this month that the United States must stop military relations and sales of weapons to Taiwan to avoid damage to bilateral relations.