AIT new address Source: Taiwan's "United Daily News"
[Global Times Special correspondent in Taipei Cui Mingxuan Global Times reporter Xing Xiaojing] The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) announced on the 3rd that it will officially move into the new building in Neihu, Taipei on May 6, and confirmed for the first time that active US troops, including the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, have been stationed in AIT since 2005. , the same is true after moving to Neihu. This move is considered a continuation of the United States playing the "Taiwan card." A mainland expert on Taiwan issues said in an interview with the Global Times that this year is a particularly important year for China-US relations, Taiwan-US relations, and cross-strait relations. During this sensitive period, the U.S.'s vicious methods of manipulating the Taiwan issue have become more and more public. The high-profile announcement of the stationing of active-duty U.S. troops in AIT actually expresses support for the Taiwan authorities and is tough on the mainland. We must attach great importance to it.
stationed in sensitive areas
AIT released a video on April 3, announcing that the new Taipei Neihu museum will be officially opened on May 6. According to the Free Electronic News, AIT Director Li Yingjie and Taiwan's "Foreign Minister" Wu Zhaoxie appeared in the video and jointly announced happily that "AIT is finally moving." In response to reports that the U.S. Marine Corps will be stationed in the new AIT Neihu building many times in the past, AIT spokesperson Meng Yuhe gave a rare positive response on the 3rd, saying that the U.S. government has sent personnel, including active duty military personnel, to AIT since 2005, including Personnel from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps; after AIT moves to the new building in Neihu, maintenance will be the same as AIT's current location, with a small number of American personnel and a larger number of locally hired personnel to cooperate with local authorities.
United News Network further disclosed that AIT has a technical group and a liaison affairs group, which are responsible for military exchanges between Taiwan and the United States. The former was formerly the US military advisory group before the United States "severed diplomatic relations" and was renamed the "Security Cooperation Group" in 2012; Liaison Affairs The group was formerly known as the "Attack's Office of the Embassy". In the early days of the "severance of diplomatic relations" between Taiwan and the United States, the two groups of officials were recruited by retired U.S. military personnel on a contract basis to promote military cooperation between the two sides. In 2004, they were gradually restored to be filled by active U.S. military personnel, and their treatment in Taiwan was similar to that of military attachés from "diplomatic countries". Since 2005, the AIT Liaison Affairs Group has added a Marine Corps officer in addition to the original active-duty officers of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
Ding Shufan, an honorary professor at the School of International Affairs at National Chengchi University, said that the current site of AIT has actually been stationed with active US military personnel stationed in sensitive areas, but the US has never publicly confirmed it, and the US military does not wear uniforms, only casual clothes. This is the first time AIT has publicly confirmed it, which shows that it intends to improve Taiwan-US relations to some extent. However, Ding Shufan believes that there is no need to be overly optimistic. Just as the recent visits by US officials to Taiwan are not politically sensitive, but belong to peripheral fields such as education and culture. "Whether the scale of the AIT garrison will be expanded in the future and whether it will be changed to uniforms, etc., is worthy of observation." . Lin Yingyou, a scholar at National Chung Cheng University, said that "AIT is acknowledging an issue that is already a fact." However, when the People's Liberation Army military aircraft crossed the "central line of the strait," the United States chose this time to confirm to the outside world that the political significance is far greater than the military significance, and expressed its stance on Taiwan. support. According to the information disclosed so far, the new AIT building is initially divided into three floors from the inside out. The Marine Corps may be responsible for the confidential core building, and other areas are responsible for security officers. personnel. Chen Weihao, editor-in-chief of Taiwan Military Online Magazine, believes that these U.S. Marines stationed in AIT have no problem cooperating with the "national army" because they are not high-level.
It has never been confirmed
before. In June 2018, the inauguration ceremony of AIT Neihu new hall was held. It took 9 years and cost approximately US$255 million to build, covering an area of 6.5 hectares. In the past two years, news has continued to spread about whether the new AIT building will host US Marines, but the US has never publicly confirmed it. In February 2017, Yang Sudi, the former director of AIT, revealed that the United States will dispatch Marines to garrison the new embassy in Neihu and establish a "Marine Home", which is equivalent to "treating AIT as an embassy status" in accordance with the practice of ordinary U.S. embassies abroad. ", which is a symbol of the United States' commitment to its friends in Taiwan. However, former AIT director Situ Wen said that the statement of "deployment of Marine Corps" is a bit exaggerated. It should be said that they are "defense personnel of the Marine Corps" and "a small guard team."
In June 2018, CNN (CNN) quoted two US officials as saying that the US State Department had requested to send US Marines to Taiwan to assist in the defense of AIT. However, CNN later stated that the US Secretary of Defense had rejected this request. U.S. State Department officials stated that the United States still adheres to the one-China policy based on the three U.S.-China joint communiqués and the Taiwan Relations Act. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminded the United States to proceed with caution. Free Electronic News stated that the newspaper reported last year that "based on the importance it attaches to Taiwan-U.S. relations, the U.S. has informed our top national security officials through channels that the U.S. will send Marines to the new building." However, AIT has never confirmed it directly.
Two Observation Points
Taiwanese media said that a 1946 bill authorized the U.S. Secretary of the Navy to dispatch Marines to protect overseas institutions at the request of the Secretary of State. However, since Taiwan and the United States do not have "diplomatic relations", although AIT is a U.S. The agency stationed in Taiwan usually operates in a civilian capacity. "If the Marine Corps is really stationed, it will be a disguised recognition that AIT has the official color of the US government." It will inevitably trigger a backlash from the mainland.
The United States continues to play the "Taiwan card", causing worries on the island. Zhang Yazhong, a professor at the Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University, said in a previous interview that "I think Taiwan has to consider whether to bet Taiwan's entire fate on the United States." Former "legislator" Lin Yufang believes that there are two major observation points to see whether the United States is escalating its relations with Taiwan based on the garrison of troops in AIT: one is the number of people, and the other is clothing. He said that although the United States has passed the "Taiwan Travel Act" and warship exchange visits, the U.S. government continues to shelve it; the Taiwan authorities do not need to over-interpret the garrison of the new AIT building and really want to solve cross-strait issues. "The United States is far away, and the mainland "We are close at hand." It is best to find ways to solve Taiwan's security issues on our own to avoid over-reliance on the United States or unnecessarily high expectations. Lin Yingyou said frankly that the Marine Corps was stationed in AIT not to protect Taiwan, but to assist AIT US officials and American people in evacuating Taiwan in the event of war. In the end, Taiwan had to rely on itself.
Hong Kong's China Review News Agency said that perhaps the United States believes that playing the "Taiwan card" is cost-effective and effective. In fact, the issue with the least room for compromise is Taiwan-related issues. The continued warming of U.S.-Taiwan relations will ultimately only cost the United States a heavy price. A mainland expert on Taiwan issues told the Global Times on the 3rd that the actions of the United States fully exposed hegemonism and were a blatant violation and challenge to China’s sovereignty and territory. We hold a firm opposition to this and must do so in the future. Let the U.S. and Taiwan authorities pay a price in some aspects, otherwise U.S.-Taiwan cooperation may only go further. Some commentators said that perhaps the "friendly fireworks" between Taiwan and the United States can continue to be set off, but if they fail to maintain a good distance and act recklessly, it will be even more detrimental to Taiwan once cross-strait relations are broken and difficult to repair.
Original title: The US Marine Corps has entered active service in AIT. Experts: The United States must pay the price
