Taiwan Issues Rare Confirmation That U.S. Special Operators Are Training On The Island (Updated)

U.S. Marine Corps special operators from the Marine Raider Regiment recently began conducting drills on the island, Taiwan’s Naval Command confirmed to Taiwan News on November 9, 2020. While U.S. forces have trained in Taiwan, this fact has generally not been publicized by either American or Taiwanese officials since 1979. That year, the U.S. government officially recognized the Communist regime in Beijing as the sole legitimate authority in China and formally severed diplomatic ties with the Nationalist government in Taipei. At the same time, the United States has reserved the right to continue supporting Taiwan and its military until there is a final settlement over its status vis-a-vis the mainland.

This all suggests that a particular focus is being placed on infiltration and interdiction missions, as well as reconnaissance, reflected also in this latest exercise with the Raiders. In particular, in a conflict scenario, Taiwan is expected to deploy special operations teams to various islands in or near the Taiwan Strait from where they would be able to harass Chinese forces, delaying their advance, or perhaps even launching raids on the mainland. These forces could also act as an early warning force of an impending invasion via the collection of critical intelligence during clandestine amphibious operations.