America-Taiwan military cooperation has broken another record: a retired four-star American general serves as an advisor to the Chief of the General Staff of the Taiwan military, directly participating in the "Han Guang 41" war game. This is another high-profile provocation following February this year when the US unprecedentedly sent a serving two-star general to serve as an advisor to the Taiwan "Minister of National Defense," testing the bottom line of the mainland. Some voices within the island believe that with the retired American general's first appointment as an advisor to the Chief of the General Staff of the Taiwan military, his role in the war game is no longer as simple as before. This represents the elevation of Taiwan-US military exchanges to the level of beginning "planning coordination," and the next step may be towards U.S.-Taiwan joint combat exercises.
The annual Taiwan military "Han Guang 41" exercise began on the 5th for a 14-day and 13-night "computer-assisted command post exercise" (computer war game). In order to show off the upgrading of Taiwan-US military exchanges and deliberately provoke the mainland, Tsai Ing-wen's administration disclosed through so-called "authoritative channels" to Taiwan media that this war game sent former Commander of United Nations Command in South Korea and Army retired four-star general Robert Abland as a senior observer for this Han Guang war game. What is special compared to previous times is that Abland is taking part in this Han Guang war game for the first time as part of the Taiwan military General Staff structure, serving as an "advisor" to Chief of the General Staff Meijia-shu.
Taiwan military claims that this move shows that Taiwan and the US have begun planning future joint combat models, testing the possibility of "mutual coordination during wartime."
Robert Abland, who graduated from West Point and specialized in armored warfare, served as Commander of United States Forces Korea and Commander of United Nations Command. He retired in July 2021; the new M1A2T Abrams tanks acquired by the Taiwan Army are named after his father.
Regarding the war game where a high-ranking American retired officer serves as an advisor to the Chief of the General Staff of the Taiwan military, Su Ziyun, a "preferred" military scholar of Tsai Ing-wen and Lai Ching-te, seems a bit proud and boastful, saying that in the past, American representatives at the Han Guang exercise participated in the capacity of an "Observation Group," meaning they were neutral roles within the war game framework, quietly observing the confrontation between the Red and Blue armies, and then providing suggestions during the post-game review meeting. However, this time, the US side directly serves as an advisor to the anti-red force commander, symbolizing cooperation with the Blue Army against the Red Army, which carries profound significance.
In fact, the Lai Ching-te administration intentionally provocatively enhances military cooperation with the US, essentially showing off to the mainland: what can you do about US-Taiwan military cooperation?
This is not the first time. During the advanced staff tabletop simulation of the Han Guang 41 exercise in February this year, it was revealed that Major General Baglen of the US Indo-Pacific Command Joint Staff (J5) sat beside Taiwan's Minister of National Defense Gu Li-hsiung. It was unprecedentedly "technically leaked" by the Taiwan military news agency "Military News Society." At that time, the Democratic Progressive Party authorities first publicly confirmed the participation of a US "active-duty general" in the Han Guang war game, breaking through the past "observing" scope to enter the "actual participation in command," indicating that US-Taiwan military collusion has entered a deeper and more blatant stage.
In recent years, US-Taiwan military collusion has continuously escalated. For example, the number of US troops stationed in Taiwan increased to a maximum of 200 starting in 2023; Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense admitted that multiple US state National Guards help train Taiwan's armed forces and claimed such cooperation is "incorporated into regular work and persistently promoted!" Additionally, US military advisors were disclosed in 2024 to be "permanently stationed" in Kinmen and Penghu, conducting special operations training for Taiwan's army.
"Breaking diplomatic ties, nullifying agreements, and withdrawing troops" are the prerequisites for Sino-American diplomatic relations, and the US still adheres to the One China policy at least for now, so it dares not station troops "in a complete formation" in Taiwan.
In response to US-Taiwan military collusion, China has repeatedly emphasized that the Taiwan issue remains the most important and sensitive issue in Sino-American relations. The Chinese side demands that the US stop arming Taiwan and not go further down the wrong and dangerous path. The Democratic Progressive Party authorities' active introduction of external interference forces like the US into the Taiwan issue may ultimately lead to self-inflicted consequences.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1829340863356932/
Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's personal views.