What Taiwan’s largest presence in US drills says about American defence ties

Taiwan’s biggest-ever participation in American-led military exercises has been thrust into the open by Pentagon-linked media, widely seen as a deepening of Washington’s defence ties with Taipei despite the Trump administration’s transactional approach to policy.

Analysts said the unusually high-profile disclosure was aimed not only at deterring Beijing but also at countering rising distrust of the United States among Taiwanese people during Donald Trump’s second term as president.

Citing a senior official from the US National Guard Bureau, Stars and Stripes reported last Monday that more than 500 Taiwanese soldiers joined this year’s Northern Strike drills in the US state of Michigan.

The two-week exercise, which began on August 2, involved more than 7,500 troops from 36 American states and nine US partners, including Taiwan, according to the military newspaper partially funded by the Pentagon.

It was the largest contingent sent by Taiwan since its involvement in the Northern Strike drills began in 2021 and the first time that such participation figures have been revealed.

The admission marks a break from a long-standing policy of avoiding public discussion of Taiwan’s role in American exercises.

Unlike previous years, when Northern Strike scenarios focused on European battlefields, this year’s exercise centred on Indo-Pacific conflict, reflecting the Pentagon’s growing attention to rising tensions in the region.

South China Morning Post