ISN SECURITY WATCH (20/12/04) - In a major departure from its policy, Washington has decided to post serving military officers to its mission in Taipei, Jane Defense Weekly said in a report. From the middle of 2005, active duty military personnel will replace civilian contractors at Washington's effective diplomatic mission in Taipei, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the weekly said in an article slated for publication on Wednesday. Agence France Presse news agency quoted Jane's Taipei correspondent Wendell Minnick as saying that US army Colonel Al Wilner, a former helicopter pilot, would be the first to arrive in Taipei. With a lack of diplomatic ties, military affairs between Washington and Taipei have been handled by contractors working for the US Defense Intelligence Agency and Defense Security Co-ordination Agency. "Washington has become less concerned over any potential protest from Beijing amid growing unease over China's military ambitions in the Asia Pacific region," the weekly said. The reports said the change resulted from a bill passed by US Congress in 2002 allowing for the posting of US military personnel to Taiwan if it was deemed to be "in the national interest of the United States". US government employees, including military personnel, are currently required to retire before they can be hired by the US mission in Taipei. US personnel assigned to the mission will not wear uniforms and will serve for three years, compared with the two-year term offered to civilian contractors, the weekly says. The change should also cut costs, as civilian employees are higher paid. Taipei is pushing for a controversial special defense budget to purchase six US-made Pac-3 anti-missile systems, eight conventional submarines, and a fleet of submarine-hunting P-3C aircraft, over a 15-year period from 2005. The US move is expected to annoy China, as it would mark closer military ties between Washington and the island, which Beijing claims as part of its territory. Washington switched its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but has since remained the leading arms supplier to the island.| I guess this means that active duty Taiwanese officers can receive training here in the US, rather than all those young, fit "civilian" males with short hair who are currently attending classes. |
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