The US is expected to quadruple the number of forces deployed to Taiwan in the coming months as tensions with Beijing continue to simmer.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Pentagon plans to deploy between 100 and 200 troops on the self-governing island, up from about 30 a year ago.
Marines and special forces personnel have been deployed to Taiwan in the past, and numbers have fluctuated over the years.
That surge, however, would mark the largest increase in American ground forces in Taiwan in decades.
US forces are being deployed to train Taiwanese military personnel to defend themselves against China’s claiming possession of Taiwan.
The US is expected to quadruple the number of forces deployed to Taiwan in the coming months as tensions with Beijing continue to simmer. Taiwanese armed forces are photographed in front of the President’s office building in Taipei in January
The Michigan National Guard is already training Taiwanese troops at Camp Grayling in northern Michigan. US forces deployed to Taiwan will also be tasked with training Taiwanese military personnel
On Thursday on Fox & Friends, Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah called it a “significant move,” but also noted that the total number of troops would not be large.
“We have to remember that while this includes quadrupling what we have there, it’s not going to be more than a few hundred,” Lee said. “So it’s a small presence, it’s a presence that’s there to offer training, not fight battles.”
In addition, Taiwanese military forces in Michigan are trained by the Michigan National Guard at Camp Grayling in the northern part of the state.
The moves come several weeks after an Air Force general predicted the US would go to war with China in 2025 and a day after the Navy Secretary sounded the alarm that China’s fleet is now larger than the US’s.
“It’s no secret that the People’s Republic of China is trying to reverse our dominance of the world’s oceans,” Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said Wednesday at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
Del Toro said China’s navy recently added over 100 combatants to its fleet, calling it “a naval build-up that is a key component of its increasingly aggressive military stance worldwide.”
The Navy of the People’s Liberation Army of China now has about 340 ships, according to Del Toro. The US Navy says its fleet has “over 280 operational ships,” and while the exact number is unclear, the number is fewer than 300.
Del Toro said China plans to deploy a fleet of 440 ships by 2030, far exceeding the Pentagon’s stated goal of having 350 manned ships by 2045.
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro (right) sounded the alarm that China’s naval fleet is outnumbering America’s and is growing faster than the US currently has equivalent capacity
A Chinese warship takes part in maneuvers in the Arabian Sea February 13 near Karachi, Pakistan. The Navy of the People’s Liberation Army of China now has about 340 ships
“The incursion of a Chinese balloon into our airspace has alarm bells ringing for most Americans now,” Del Toro said.
But he added that many Americans are unaware that China is “consistently” trying to violate the maritime sovereignty and economic well-being of other nations, including our allies and trading partners in the South China Sea and elsewhere.
In recent years, China has become increasingly aggressive in the South China Sea, a vast stretch of ocean that China claims as its own, although the claim is not recognized under international law.
“China’s disregard for the rules-based international order is of particular concern in the maritime sphere, from the Taiwan Strait to the high seas,” Del Toro said.
“The values espoused by the Chinese Communist Party are incompatible with individual freedom, democracy and respect for human rights,” he added.
Del Toro, in remarks to reporters, claimed that China’s shipbuilding capacity far exceeds that of the US, saying China has 13 shipyards, including one that has a shipbuilding capacity larger than all US shipyards combined, according to CNN.
The US retains a strong advantage in aircraft carriers, with the Navy’s 11 versus China’s 3. China is also reportedly struggling to train enough ship-based fighter jet pilots to adequately crew its aircraft carriers.
However, experts say that in an all-out naval war the larger total fleet almost always has a decisive advantage.
A US warship participates in multinational exercises. The Navy has around 280 warships
The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG-70) is seen in a file photo
The US Navy’s fleet size is unlikely to reach 350 before the 2040s, according to the Navy’s latest projections, seen in a CBO report released Wednesday
CBO documents describe the Navy’s shipbuilding plans for the next few years. The fleet is likely to shrink before it grows as old ships are retired
Sam Tangredi, the Leidos Chair in Future Warfare Studies at the US Naval War College and a former US Navy captain, issued such a warning in the January issue of the US Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine last month.
In his analysis of 25 historic naval wars, the side with the larger fleet won in all but three cases.
“In a war between equally competent technological peers – without a series of amazing strokes of luck – the larger fleet always wins,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, China’s provocations in the South China Sea continue to escalate.
On February 6, a China Coast Guard ship aimed a “military laser” at a Philippine Coast Guard ship, temporarily blinding its crew on the bridge.
The Philippine ship was assisting a naval mission in delivering food and supplies to troops at an atoll in the disputed South China Sea.
The incident happened off the Second Thomas Shoal, 105 nautical miles off the Philippine province of Palawan. The Shoal is home to a small Filipino military contingent aboard a rusting ship.
“I think it’s time the Chinese government restrained its armed forces from committing provocative acts that endanger people’s lives,” Philippine military spokesman Medel Aguilar told reporters, according to Portal.
Aguilar quoted the Philippine defense chief as saying the Chinese action was “offensive” and unsafe.
The Philippines accused a Chinese coast guard vessel of hitting one of their coast guard vessels with a military laser on February 6. Pictured: An image released by the Philippine Coast Guard showing a green light coming from the Chinese vessel
Manila said the laser (pictured) temporarily blinded some of its crew in the disputed South China Sea, calling it a “blatant” violation of Manila’s sovereign rights
US Naval Operations Chief Admiral Michael Gilday was in Manila on Wednesday, where he said the United States is “obliged” to conduct joint maritime patrols with the Philippines on the disputed waterway to deter Chinese aggression.
Gilday said the countries were “in the early stages of planning” for combined maritime activities, but he insisted the United States was “committed and focused,” AFP reported.
China claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars are traded annually, and has ignored an international court ruling saying its claims have no legal basis.
In Manila, Gilday held talks with Philippine Navy Chief Vice Admiral Toribio Adaci and Military Chief of Staff General Andres Centino.
They agreed “that we must move forward in a focused and rapid manner to improve our interoperability in the South China Sea and across the region together,” Gilday told reporters.
Given the proximity to Taiwan and surrounding waters, the Philippines’ cooperation would be crucial in the event of a conflict with China.