Bibliography: “Exclusive: U.S. and Taiwan navies quietly held Pacific drills in April,” Reuters. World history, Taiwan Republic 台灣国, and geostrategery classrooms. Is it “quiet” if it is purposely leaked to one of the largest news agencies on the planet? For a multi-day joint naval drill between the mighty US Seventh Fleet and the Taiwanese Navy that came as a result of a “chance meeting” in the vast Pacific Ocean, that officially did not occur, this Reuters exclusive is unusually detailed. These joint drills between the militaries of the US and Taiwan, particularly over the last decade as the US has finally understood the threat to the world order posed by the Chinese communists, are not unusual. Some of the Taiwanese Coast Guard missions into the South Pacific have been curious – if you collate US and Japanese Coast Guard missions. What’s unusual is the fact that this was intentionally leaked by the US to a reputable news agency.
Policy spirals, as I have noted, are complicated because they cross so many policy realms and sectors. The Chinese communists have ratcheted up their level of military belligerence towards all its Indo-Pacific neighbors – which means the US and allies must respond in kind, which in turn means Beijing will find additional ways to increase the pressure. On Taiwan Republic in particular – poorly trained Chinese communist combat pilots and naval captains have come perilously close to Taiwan – sooner or later the calculation in DC will be that it is better to have the US and democratic allies have a permanent presence in and around the Taiwan Strait and have a direct hand in managing this Chinese communist instigated crisis – than to leave the situation to a belligerent and poorly trained Chinese communist military and an inexperienced Taiwanese military. Thousands of American officers will be based in Taiwan but unlike the older model, most will not be permanently stationed but will rotate in and out of Taiwan for exercises and training and so on. These exercises are important because during the Chinese communist invasion forces from different nations will need to know if they can communicate/coordinate properly. This small naval drill is only the beginning.
While this intentional news leak may be a way to signal to the Chinese communists that the more aggressive they become, the more the US and allies will do, there are also other purposes as well. This could also be a signal that soon these joint drills with the Taiwanese military will become routine and public. An interesting phenomenon as a watcher of all things Indo-Pacific is in how often the narrative is framed with Beijing as the only protagonist – Chinese historical sensitivities, Chinese red lines, Chinese gray zone tactics, etc. Whereas all parties in the Indo-Pacific are protagonists. Interestingly this “chance meeting” is a Chinese parlor game the Chinese Communist Party and the China KMT have used in the past to engage in direct contact without admitting it. Meaning, while the Chinese communists have pushed their gray zone/all domain warfare – harassing the Taiwanese Coast Guards near Quemoy and Matsu, flying and sailing dangerously close to Taiwan, using collaborators with the Chinese communists within Taiwan to prosecute information warfare against Taiwanese democracy – more than once the US has demonstrated that it too has plenty of tools in its gray-zone/multidomain warfare toolbox. And frankly, if the US can focus and sustain its policies – that’s always the main worry – in the context of Taiwan, unlike Beijing, the US has had more decades with direct access to all sectors of Taiwanese society for which to combat and resist Chinese communist inroads. In terms of the military policy spirals, sooner rather than later American and democratic allies will have to ponder a permanent military presence in and around Taiwan. This “chance meeting” joint naval drill is the first of many early steps.
Exclusive: U.S. and Taiwan navies quietly held Pacific drills in April
Taiwan-US drills followed CUES: MND BASIC OPERATIONS: About half a dozen navy ships from both countries took part in the days-long exercise based on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2024/05/15/2003817873
路透：美台海軍4月低調聯合軍演
https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/politics/paper/1646036
Defense Ministry: Taiwan Navy drills with U.S. are routine encounter drills
https://en.rti.org.tw/news/view/id/2011137
外媒：美國與台灣海軍4月「秘密」在太平洋舉行「不期而遇」演習
https://www.cmmedia.com.tw/home/articles/46858
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