US defence experts to work inside Taiwan military HQ under reported pact

A reported plan to station US defence personnel inside Taiwan’s military headquarters would take cooperation from external help into the heart of defence planning, potentially angering Beijing while raising questions over Taipei’s policymaking autonomy and military secrecy.According to Taiwanese media reports at the weekend, the Pentagon plans to send one official from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defence for Policy and one expert from the Institute for Defence Analyses (IDA) to work on a long-term basis at the defence ministry’s headquarters in Taipei.The two would aid policy coordination and combat capability assessments under an expanded “Taiwan-US Defence Ministry Joint Cooperation Assessment” programme that would run from this year to 2028, according to the reports.Taiwan concludes annual war games, including preparing for PLA sea blockadeThe programme has a total budget of more than NT$471 million (US$14.8 million), including NT$152.5 million this year for expenses such as US personnel and consultancy costs, travel, research equipment and data collection, and interpreting for classified-level meetings.If confirmed, the arrangement would mark a significant change from the existing US military presence in Taiwan, where American personnel have generally worked as trainers or through the American Institute in Taiwan, Washington’s de facto embassy on the island.