The US Navy’s elite SEAL Team 6 is best known around the world for its 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan. Now they are preparing for a new mission, and have reportedly been planning and training for a potential conflict in Taiwan for more than a year. According to some commentators, the secret training by the US Navy’s elite unit is part of a broader deterrence strategy against China.
The Financial Times reports come as China has warned it will “crush” any foreign power that encroaches on what it considers sovereign territory, which includes much of the South China Sea and Taiwan.
On Thursday, a senior Chinese military officer told a defense forum: “If the United States moves its agents behind the scenes, incites countries to confrontation, or goes to the front lines itself, we in the PLA and China will not be patient. We will crush all hostile foreign interference against China’s territorial, sovereign and maritime rights and interests with firm determination, firm will, strong capability and effective means.”
Beijing considers Taiwan part of China, although the Chinese Communist Party’s rule has never extended to the island. Meanwhile, Taiwan operates as a de facto but unrecognized state with its own government, foreign policy and currency. According to polls, the vast majority of the population opposes unification with China, the Telegraph reported.
The United States is already Taiwan’s largest arms supplier, even though it has no formal diplomatic relations with the island. Washington has a legal obligation to ensure Taiwan has the means to defend itself, but it maintains a policy of “strategic ambiguity,” meaning it will not say whether U.S. forces would intervene in the event of a conflict.
However, support for Taiwan has increased in recent years amid growing fears that Beijing is preparing for an invasion. The Pentagon regularly sends special forces to Taiwan on secret missions that include training the Taiwanese military.
On the other hand, China is spending huge sums on its navy, expanding its nuclear arsenal, and increasing military and political pressure on Taiwan to force it to accept its territorial claims. In May, Chinese forces conducted military exercises around the island.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts are underway to ease tensions and avoid conflict. On Tuesday, Adm. Samuel Paparo, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and Gen. Wu Zhannan, commander of the Chinese military’s southern theater, spoke to each other for the first time in two years.
