{"id":3080,"date":"2026-08-05T15:00:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T15:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/?p=3080"},"modified":"2026-08-05T15:00:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T15:00:05","slug":"taiwan-and-us-military-cooperation-far-closer-than-you-might-imagine-taipei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/?p=3080","title":{"rendered":"Taiwan and US military cooperation \u2018far closer than you might imagine\u2019 \u2013 Taipei"},"content":{"rendered":"

American troops \u2013 often presented as \u201cEnglish teachers\u201d \u2013 are helping to boost the island\u2019s army amid tensions with Beijing, Defense Minister Wellington Koo has revealed<\/strong><\/p>\n

The US and Taiwanese militaries are engaged in active but secretive on-site collaboration, according to Taipei\u2019s defense minister, Wellington Koo. The message comes after US President Donald Trump put a hold on arms sales to the self-governed island, which has sparked alarm among pro-US countries in the region.<\/p>\n

Speaking to a narrow circle of reporters on Friday, Koo stressed, as cited by the Wall Street Journal, that Taiwan\u2019s collaboration with the US \u201cis far closer than you might imagine.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0
<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe public sees only the arms sales, but in fact, it\u2019s multifaceted and involves so much more,\u201d<\/em> Koo said, adding that Taipei had \u201cbeen learning so much practical combat experience from the US\u201d<\/em> through military exchanges.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
US diplomat wants to turn Taiwan into \u2018hornet\u2019s nest of drones\u2019<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The minister did not give any additional details on the cooperation but noted that Taiwan does not count on US intervention in case of a conflict with Beijing in its planning. <\/p>\n

China regards the island as its sovereign territory, saying that while it seeks peaceful reunification, it does not rule out the use of force. As for the US, it acknowledges the One China policy, but maintains close ties with Taiwan, which has long been a major source of tension between the two powers.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Aircraft
China launches \u2018special maritime operation\u2019 off Taiwan<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to the WSJ, the US maintains a small troop contingent on the island, which often poses as \u201cAmerican English teachers\u201d<\/em> to maintain political decorum. <\/p>\n

Koo directly alluded to the \u201cAmerican English teachers,\u201d<\/em> saying that \u201ca lot more\u201d<\/em> of them \u201cwill be showing up where they need to be.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u201cBut you won\u2019t be able to spot them everywhere they operate,\u201d<\/em> he added.<\/p>\n

The minister\u2019s revelation of the scale of secret US-Taiwanese cooperation comes after Trump\u2019s visit to China in May. After meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he confirmed that he had discussed arms sales to Taiwan \u201cin great detail,\u201d<\/em> describing the hot-button issue as a \u201cvery good negotiating chip\u201d<\/em> in the US dealings with Beijing.<\/p>\n

Asked whether he would approve a $14 billion arms package to Taipei, which has remained in limbo for months, Trump said that \u201cit depends on China.\u201d<\/em> As of early August, the US has yet to approve the package.<\/p>\n

While officials in Taipei insisted that they were not concerned by the announcement \u2013 which was widely described as a break from long-standing US policy on Taiwan \u2013 media reports have indicated that it sparked alarm and unease both on the island and in the wider region.<\/p>\n

Beijing has yet to comment on Koo\u2019s remarks, but it has consistently signaled that it \u201cfirmly opposes military collusion between Taiwan and the United States.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American troops \u2013 often presented as \u201cEnglish teachers\u201d \u2013 are helping to boost the island\u2019s army amid tensions with Beijing, Defense Minister Wellington Koo has revealed The US and Taiwanese … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}