US bill calls for Pentagon to send troops to take part in Taiwan military drills
Move comes as island’s annual Han Kuang war games are under way
The US Senate Armed Services Committee has passed a draft bill calling for American troops to take part in Taiwan’s Han Kuang exercise – the island’s most important annual war games – in another move that is expected to provoke Beijing.
The US defence secretary should promote Washington’s policies concerning exchanges that enhance Taiwan’s security, “including US participation in appropriate Taiwan exercises such as the annual Han Kuang” drill and vice versa, according to the 2019 National Defence Authorisation Act. The bill was passed on May 24 but revealed in a report by the Senate on Tuesday.
It comes as the self-ruled island began the second stage of this year’s Han Kuang live-fire military drills on Monday and at a time of heightened cross-strait tensions.
Although the Pentagon has been quietly involved in such exercises for years, analysts said it was the first time the US Senate had proposed in writing that it get directly involved in Taiwanese war games.
The bill also calls on the Pentagon to consider “supporting a visit by an American hospital ship to Taiwan as part of the annual Pacific Partnership mission” to improve disaster response planning and preparedness.