Taiwanese military forces and US-backed asymmetric strategy

Relations between Taiwan and the United States have been a topic of discussion in recent years. But a new issue has emerged as part of this approach: the assistance that the American giant is providing to the island to maintain its position in a hot region such as the Indo-Pacific, with China’s continued presence.

To this end, the US Congress approved a defense bill worth $95 billion, in addition to about $4 billion in potential aid to Taiwan. In the face of this action, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also traveled to Singapore to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue, a security forum, where he will meet his counterpart in China, which recently conducted massive military exercises around Taiwan. In order to speed up the aid delivery process, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks established a high-level integration group for Taiwan in 2022, which recently met to coordinate support for Taiwan.

The main logistical challenge is that Taiwan, with limited military capacity, is able to absorb only a limited amount of annual aid, estimated at about $500 million. Strategically, the United States has pressured Taiwan to adopt an asymmetric approach focused on rejecting Chinese invasion, prioritizing munitions, drones and training on large platforms such as aircraft and tanks, although this is generating resistance in Taiwan.

In addition, relations between the United States and China have been strained since Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in 2022, and although they have improved slightly since the Biden-Xi Jinping summit, they remain fragile, complicating efforts to balance the defense of Taiwan and maintain… Regional stability.

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