Talking Proud: Service & Sacrifice
Taiwan: The times are changing
Taiwan approaching a new era?
Introduction
In the late 1970s, I was a staff officer at the Pacific Command (PACOM) in the J2 Directorate for Intelligence, with a brief career broadening stint in the J5 Directorate for Plans.
When I started work in J5, I was responsible for the Republic of China (ROC) Plans. As fortune would have it, I landed in J5 right when the staff was in the throes of a drawdown of US military forces in Taiwan. The division chief was a Marine Corps colonel who put the Taiwan drawdown planning effort under his personal wing. I got to listen and watch.
At the time, the US had a sub-unified command in Taiwan known as the Taiwan Defense Command (TDC), with component commands for ground, air, and sea.
The Shanghai Communiqué of 1972 called for the normalization of relations between the US and China. The net result was that the US military would have to leave Taiwan. Planning began with the staff of the TDC and was done in concert with the PACOM J5 staff and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
I recall the high tension, fast-changing nature of the Taiwan drawdown planning. My colonel had lists of every US military activity on Taiwan, including the number of personnel assigned. He had the nightmarish task of identifying which ones would be closed and when. D-Day for the total withdrawal was April 30, 1979. Dependents were in the mix along with schools and a wide variety of organizations. Milestones were set, and due dates had to be met.
I recall that my colonel demanded that the post office remain open until the very last day. I think he got his way. Another huge issue was with a Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU). It was a premier research institution studying infectious diseases peculiar to Asia. I remember debate after debate on when to close this prized biomedical laboratory. It was moved to the Philippines, then Indonesia, and then Hawaii.
Fast forward to 2026, some 47 years later. Each day, I see summaries of Chinese air and naval operations around Taiwan. They have been extensive. The question that looms is, will China invade, and when? And if China does invade, what will the US response be?
I decided to see whether there are any US military forces in Taiwan. I was taken aback to see that the answer is yes. There is a report by Guy D. McCardie that has made the rounds throughout the world. It has said that there are SOF troops permanently assigned in Taipei, the capital, and on Kinmen and Penghu Islands. If true, their presence is the first in Taiwan in over 40 years. I decided to research this further.
As always happens, I stumbled on some absorbing notions about the US-Taiwan relationship that I thought I should share, even if I cannot confirm everything I am about to write.
Table of Contents
US in Taiwan, prior to Shanghai
Shanghai Communiqué of 1972
Joint Firepower Coordination Centre
C-C5ISRT for Taiwan?
Where are we now?
US in Taiwan, prior to Shanghai
Taiwan’s history is complex. Without going into detail, I’ll say the Republic of China (ROC) was created under Chiang Kai-shek in 1928. The US was among the first Western powers to recognize the Republic of China (ROC) as the government of all China. The ROC was a founding member of the UN.
The Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931, the ROC in 1937, and held much of its coastline and the island of Formosa and the Pescadores Islands in the Formosa Strait until 1945.
Once Japan was defeated, Formosa and the Pescadores were handed to the ROC. The Chinese Communists, led by Mao Tse-tung, defeated Chiang, created the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and Chiang’s ROC government fled to Formosa. The US continued to recognize the ROC as the sole legal government of China. It established diplomatic relations and, in 1954, signed a mutual defense treaty. Taiwan has never been part of the PRC.
Portuguese sailors named the island “Formosa,” a beautiful island, in the 16th century. The Qing Dynasty used the name “Taiwan,” meaning “platformed bay,” in 1684, and its use remained thereafter. Following WWII, much of the world stuck with “Taiwan,” and it remained standard since.
The US established the Taiwan Defense Command (USTDC) in 1954, reporting to the Commander-in-Chief Pacific (CINCPAC) in Hawaii. At its peak, it had about 30,000 military members assigned. It had fighter-bomber squadrons, naval patrol forces, tactical missile squadrons, a Marine Corps aircraft group, fighter-interceptor squadrons, and airlift units. The US also had nuclear weapons in Taiwan and the means to deliver them.
In 1958, TDC’s population grew from 5,500 in 1955 to 20,000 in 1958, principally due to the Korean War.
By 1969, the command grew to 30,000, mainly due to the Vietnam War.
During those years, the USTDC had its headquarters at Headquarters Support Activity (HSA) Compound, Yuanshan, Taipei, with bases at Tainan Air Base (AB), Pingtung AB, Ching Chuan Kang (CCK) AB, Zuoying Military Port, in Kaohsiung, and advisory team locations on Matsu and Kinmen islands.
Shanghai Communiqué of 1972
The Shanghai Communiqué of 1972, during President Richard Nixon’s term, called for the normalization of relations between the US and China. President Jimmy Carter followed the intent of the Communiqué and established formal diplomatic recognition of China on January 1, 1979. He severed such relations with Taiwan (ROC) on the same date and, in January 1980, revoked the Mutual Defense Treaty of 1955 with the ROC.
The US gradually reduced its military footprint. In 1978, the commander, USTDC, directed his staff to develop a withdrawal plan under conditions that were peaceful; i.e., the planning assumed Taiwan was at peace.
On March 1, 1979, the US dissolved its Military Assistance Advisory Group and its commander departed Taiwan on April 26, 1979.
The withdrawal plan was approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on December 20, 1978.
The US acknowledged China’s position that Taiwan is part of China, but did not endorse that position. Future relations with Taiwan would be unofficial.
The US established the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) in 1979 to enable the US to conduct unofficial relations with Taiwan. It is a non-profit organization under contract to the Department of State. Its main office is in Taipei, Taiwan, with a branch office in Taiwan’s southern port city of Kaohsiung. The AIT, in effect, operates as an embassy, but it is not an embassy.
The US withdrew all its military forces from Taiwan by April 30, 1979, except for two military members in jail and one finishing up education. The latter was out by the end of May 1979. The US said it would send defensive articles and services to Taiwan as it requires, and the US would maintain the capacity to employ force should another entity, such as China (PRC), threaten the status of Taiwan. I will refer to the PRC as China from now on.
One result of these actions was the passage of the Taiwan Relations Act of January 1, 1979. It stipulated that the US would maintain ties to Taiwan and that the US decision to establish relations with China rested on the expectation that the future of Taiwan would be determined by peaceful means. To do otherwise would constitute a matter of grave concern to the US. Furthermore, it authorized the US to provide Taiwan with defensive arms and services.
There was some doubt in Taiwan about the degree of support iut would receive from the US. Therefore, in July 1982, Under Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger sent a cable to James Lilly, director of the AIS, telling him to convey President Reagan’s s”Six Assurances” to Taiwan’s president. These assurances were,
We have not…
Set a date certain for ending arms sales to Taiwan
Agreed to prior consultation on arms sales
Agreed to any mediation role for the US
Agreed to revise the Taiwan Relations Act
Agreed to take any position regarding sovereignty over Taiwan, and …
We will never agree to put pressure on Taiwan to negotiate with China.
These are referred to as the “Six Assurances” and remain a linchpin of US foreign policy in this region.
There is also a set of “Three Communiqués,” which include three joint China-US joint Communiqués, central features of US policy.
In summary, the US is committed to a “One China” policy guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Communiqués, and the Six Assurances. However, the US sees Taiwan as a critical node of the first island chain in the Indo-Pacific, and the US will continue to provide defensive military support to Taiwan. All together, this has been part of a US policy of “strategic ambiguity.”
