The US is increasing its small contingent of troops in Taiwan to train local forces, an American defense official said, in the latest move of support for the island democracy and willingness to raise the ire of China.
The US military presence in Taiwan would grow to between 100 and 200 troops, up from about 30 a year ago, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier Thursday.
The latest development is only likely to add to the strain in US-China relations, which have become frayed in the months since President Joe Biden met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Indonesia and tried to set ties on a more stable path. The balloon journey led to Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponing a planned trip to China for long-awaited meetings. And when the top US diplomat met his counterpart Wang Yi in Germany, the two traded barbs over everything from the balloon and Taiwan to North Korea and potential Chinese support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
At the same time, the Biden administration is under pressure from US lawmakers of both parties to bolster US arms and aid to counter a potential future effort by China to seize Taiwan, which China claims.
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