U.S. and Taiwan navies reportedly held secret Pacific exercises in April | Wilnesh News

The U.S. and Taiwan navies held joint exercises in the Pacific in April, but officials did not hold them, four people familiar with the matter said, as the two militaries stepped up cooperation amid rising military threats from China.

Washington and Taipei have been expanding military cooperation in recent years as China makes near-daily incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone and Chinese troops hold drills near Taiwan.

U.S. military contacts with Taiwan, including visits and training, have been kept low-key and often not officially confirmed, as China opposes any military contact between Washington and Taipei. China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, but Taiwan strongly objects.

Sources said the exercises were held in the Western Pacific last month but were not made public.

One source said “a variety of military assets” were involved. Another source said the drills did not officially exist and were described as “unplanned maritime encounters,” noting there was a tacit understanding that the drills were the result of coincidence.

“It’s like I’m eating at this restaurant and you happen to be here,” the source said. “Then it looks like I’m just sitting at the same table with someone.”

The source also said that about six naval vessels from both sides, including frigates, supply and support ships, participated in the several-day exercise, which was designed to practice “basic” operations such as communications, refueling and replenishment.

In a statement to Reuters, Taiwan’s navy said in a statement to Reuters that in order to handle unexpected situations at sea and minimize “interference” with each other, the Taiwan Navy acted “in accordance with the Code of Unexpected Encounters at Sea” (also known as “CUES”) promoted by the United States.

“The navy is in regular contact with ships of other countries and conducts encounter drills as necessary,” the statement said, without elaborating.

The Pentagon declined to comment.

Taiwan and the United States have no formal diplomatic relations because Washington officially recognizes Beijing but is legally bound to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself and is Taiwan’s most important international backer.

A third source said that although the “unexpected encounter” between the two navies mainly involved basic exercises, such exercises are crucial to ensuring that the two militaries can operate together in an emergency.

CUES was developed about a decade ago to help ease tensions between militaries at sea, providing guidelines such as safe speeds and distances, a common communications language and what to do if a ship malfunctions.

Taiwan Navy Commander-in-Chief Tang Hua last month visited According to Reuters, the United States is also discussing how to strengthen bilateral naval cooperation. In response, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its firm opposition to “military collusion” between the United States and Taiwan.

This month, Taiwan’s chief of general staff, Gen. Mei Jiashu, attended a ceremony to replace the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii, an incident that was not revealed until he appeared in the audience in an official photo.

China has long said Taiwan is its most sensitive territorial issue and a major bone of contention in Sino-U.S. relations.

Beijing has not yet renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, while Taipei says China’s territorial claims are invalid because the People’s Republic of China has never ruled Taiwan.