The U.S. military has been secretly training the Taiwanese military for "at least a year" to bolster the island's defences against China and risk angering Beijing, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
About 20 US Special Forces and a group of Marines are training small units of the Taiwanese Army and Navy, the newspaper reported, citing official but anonymous US sources. The Pentagon did not deny the report.
"I have no comment to make on the development or specific training, but I would like to emphasize that our support for Taiwan and our defence ties (with the island) are commensurate with the threat posed by China today," said John Sapel spokesman for the Department of Defence.
"We call on Beijing to abide by its commitments to the peaceful settlement of disputes between China and Taiwan," he added.
