China Decries US Law On Training Taiwan's Military
Date
12/28/2023 7:11:35 PM
(MENAFN- Asia Times) Beijing is criticizing the United States for passing a budget bill that will require the US defense department to boost military training and provide cybersecurity support for Taiwan.
It's the first time that the US openly suggested such cooperation for Taiwan since the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979.
As of October 2021, some two dozen special operations troops from the US Defense Department had been deployed to train Taiwan's armed forces, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal that month. The same paper said in February this year that the US would send 100 to 200 troops to Taiwan to help train the island's army. Indeed, according to Taiwan News , 200 US troops had arrived in Taiwan by April.
“The US has been secretly training Taiwan's army for some time but this time it wants to comprehensively weaponize the Taiwanese army,” Zheng Jian, Chair Professor of the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University and Director of the National Taiwan Studies Association, told the China Central TV's CMG Cross-Strait Radio in an interview.
“The word 'comprehensive' means that the US wants to transform the Taiwanese army into a tool to suppress or burn out China, or use it to fight a proxy war,” Zheng said.“This shows Washington's evil intentions.”
He said the US also wants to obtain Taiwan's IT data by providing the island with some so-called cybersecurity support. He said the US will then be able to control the ideology of Taiwanese people and suppress the island.
After US President Joe Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 into law last Friday, December 22, the Chinese government remained silent for a few days.
But since Tuesday, China's Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry and Taiwan Affairs Office as well as the National People's Congress's Foreign Affairs Committee have issued statements separately to oppose the NDAA.
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