US’ 500 military personnel in Taiwan an ‘open test’ of Beijing’s red lines

Enoch Wong

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Washington’s disclosure that around 500 US military personnel are stationed in Taiwan signals more open and substantial defence support for the island – a pivot from a previously discreet partnership that is openly testing Beijing’s red lines, according to analysts.

The disclosure, made on May 15 by retired US Navy Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery during congressional testimony, was the first official acknowledgement of such a substantial American military presence on the self-governed island.

Taiwanese experts say the number refers to training personnel. It also vastly exceeds the previously known 41 personnel that were confirmed in a US congressional report a year earlier.

Montgomery told lawmakers that the US military involvement was essential to training Taiwan to become a credible “counter-intervention force” capable of real combat or complicating Beijing’s military options.

“If we’re going to give them billions of dollars in assistance, sell them tens of billions of dollars’ worth of US gear, it makes sense that we’d be over there training and working,” he said.

Days after the hearing, mainland Chinese state broadcaster CCTV took the rare step of airing commentary on Montgomery’s remarks about the American military presence on the island.

The broadcast did not outline specific plans for a response by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), but it featured residents of the island criticising US actions as “pushing Taiwan towards the danger of war”.

Su Tzu-yun, a research fellow at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defence and Security Research, a Taipei-backed think tank, said Montgomery was likely to have been referring “to training personnel rather than combat troops” – distinct from the reported active-duty US military personnel stationed on the island who are serving in administrative roles.

Chen Wen-chia, an international affairs scholar at Taiwan’s National Chengchi University, also downplayed the significance of the number, emphasising that “joint training missions are short-term and technical in focus, not equivalent to a permanent US military presence”.