US and Taiwan Agree on Joint Military Exercises and Expert Exchanges Next Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen officially acknowledged for the first time the presence of U.S. troops stationed in Taiwan, and the two countries have agreed to conduct joint military exercises again next year.

According to major foreign media on the 1st, the two countries reached this agreement at the annual Army Luwei Project meeting held in Hawaii early last month. During the meeting, they agreed on joint military exercises, unit training, mobility support training, mutual cooperation training, and expert exchanges.

The two countries evaluated the performance of the Special Operations Cooperation Team's permanent training, conducted for the first time this year, as excellent, and decided that the Special Operations Cooperation Team will continue support training in Taiwan after the Lunar New Year next year.

The U.S. Special Operations Cooperation Team, consisting of about 10 members, is reportedly supervised by the Security Cooperation Team of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Taipei Office, which serves as the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan.

Joint exercises and unit training are organized as U.S. local training for Taiwan Army Special Forces and Marine Corps Marine units, as well as visits to the Rapid Mobility Brigade.

Mobility support training and mutual cooperation training are joint exercises conducted annually in the Guanshan area of Taichung, central Taiwan, by 12 to 14 U.S. Special Forces Green Beret Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) teams and the Taiwan Army Aviation Special Operations Command.

The U.S. Special Operations Cooperation Team is expected to focus on training related to the operation of new equipment provided to Taiwan during next year’s exercises.

A source stated that the U.S. troops stationed in Taiwan, revealed by President Tsai late last month, are precisely the Special Operations Cooperation Team, composed of officers at the major or lieutenant colonel level, who will continue to be stationed in Taiwan every six months to strengthen Taiwan’s military capabilities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.