A retired U.S. 4-star general, Robert Abrams, is rumored to be advising Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taiwan's defense ministry says such exchanges with the U.S. are part of its regular annual planning.
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00:00These are images taken of Taiwan's largest computerized war game.
00:05For two weeks, the country's most senior military leaders are gathering in secret
00:08and simulating all aspects of their plan to defend the country against an attack from China.
00:14Maybe one computer? We're going to have to start.
00:16But local media are now speculating that a retired four-star general from the U.S.
00:21is also part of this group, serving as a consultant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
00:25Responding to the rumors, Taiwan's defense ministry says that military exchanges between Taiwan and the United States
00:31are carried out normally according to annual plans.
00:34They're maintaining consistency and won't be commenting on individual cases.
00:41While the U.S. and Taiwan do not have official ties,
00:44Washington does provide weapons systems and training to Taipei to support Taiwan's overall defense strategy.
00:51Almost all of the retired general and flag officers today will have had meaningful leadership experience in Iraq and Afghanistan.
00:57Again, this is not the first time that delegations of U.S. military officers,
01:02retired and active duty or diplomats or scholars have gone to Taiwan.
01:07My sense is that they have been saying the same basic things for many, many years.
01:11As I have argued elsewhere, these haven't really resulted in changes.
01:15Over the past three years, Taiwan has been reforming its defense strategy,
01:22stepping up its training in quality and quantity.
01:26In the past 12 months, Taiwanese soldiers were spotted in Oklahoma training on U.S. weapons systems.
01:32And two months ago, a name tag of a representative of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
01:37was seen next to Taiwan's defense minister during a high-level defense meeting.
01:41And now, if the U.S. has in fact sent this former general to advise on Taiwan's war games,
01:48analysts here say it could be a key step in helping both sides align their strategies in the event of a conflict.
01:54Taiwan has been boosting its arsenal and buying billions of U.S. dollars worth of U.S. weapons
02:22to prepare for a possible conflict with China.
02:25Many of these systems have already started to be delivered.
02:28But analysts say weapons supply and training from the U.S.
02:31doesn't indicate Washington's level of support for Taiwan if it were attacked.
02:36So I think we are seeing serious improvements.
02:40I do think it is important to put context around all of this,
02:44which is to say that at the end of the day,
02:46I don't know that this indicates a clear American commitment
02:50because a decision like that in a crisis still rests entirely with the president of the United States.
02:57The computer games are expected to continue until April 18th,
03:01and live fire exercises are scheduled for the beginning of July.
03:05With continued U.S. assistance, Taiwan's goal is to create an effective defense,
03:09ensuring its strategy is fully tested and able to withstand whatever aggression it might face.
03:14Luffy Lee and Jaime Okan for Taiwan Plus.