US troops should be based in Taiwan, Bolton says

Former US national security adviser John Bolton on Saturday called for US troops to be stationed in Taiwan, harkening back to the allies' ... Home FrontPage Mon,Apr18,2022page1 UStroopsshouldbebasedinTaiwan,Boltonsays ByYangCheng-yu andKayleighMadjar/Staffreporter,withstaffwriter FormerUSnationalsecurityadviserJohnBoltononSaturdaycalledforUStroopstobestationedinTaiwan,harkeningbacktotheallies’arrangementpriorto1979. GiventheongoingRussia-Ukrainewar,BoltoncalledforTaiwantobeprotectedthroughpoliticalandmilitarydeterrence. Thatmeansincreasingdefensebudgetsandtighteningcoordinationbetweenthetwomilitaries,hesaid. FormerUSnationalsecurityadvisorJohnBoltondeliversaspeechovervideolinkduringtheGlobalTaiwanNationalAffairsSymposiumforumonSaturday. Photo:screengrabfromtheInternet ItcouldalsomeanstationingtroopsinTaiwanastheUSdidbeforeformaldiplomaticrelationswereseveredin1979,amoveBoltonsaidwouldbenefitbothsides. Bolton,whoservedfrom2018to2019underformerUSpresidentDonaldTrump,madethecommentsinaprerecordedaddresstotheGlobalTaiwanNationalAffairsSymposiumorganizedbyTaiwaneseindependencegroups. ThecallcomesafterForeignPolicymagazineinNovemberlastyearreportedthatUStroopnumbersinTaiwan—whilepresentformorethanadecade—hadincreasedsinceTrump’spresidencythanksto“intenselobbying”byBolton. BoltonrejectedcallstocreateanIndo-Pacific“NATO”duetohistoricalandcontextualdifferenceswithEurope,butconsideredtheQuadrilateralSecurityDialogueapositivesteptowardcounteringChineseaggressionintheregion. Themorecreativetheapproach,thebetter,hesaid,praisingclosermilitarycooperationthroughgroupssuchastheAUKUSalliancebetweentheUS,UKandAustralia,whichhesuggestedJapanjointoensuregreaterflexibility. BoltonalsoagreedwithformerJapaneseprimeministerShinzoAbe’ssuggestiontostationUSnuclearweaponsinJapantomakeitamoreimportantregionalplayer. Taiwanfacesanexcellentopportunity,astheglobalcommunityisbecomingmoreawareoftheChinesethreatandismorewillingtoextendahelpinghand,hesaid. AsforgrowingcallsfortheUStoabandonitslong-heldpolicyof“strategicambiguity,”BoltonsaidthereisalreadylegalprecedenttoformanallianceundertheTaiwanRelationsAct. FormallyrecognizingTaiwan’sindependenceisimportantpoliticallyandmilitarily,Boltonsaid,addingthatthisviewwasconsideredextremein2000,whenhecalledfordiplomaticrecognitionintheTaipeiTimes. TheUShaslongbeenoneofTaiwan’sgreatestfriends,andwithassistancefromotherssuchasJapan,helpforTaiwanislimitless,hesaid. Commentswillbemoderated.Keepcommentsrelevanttothearticle.Remarkscontainingabusiveandobscenelanguage,personalattacksofanykindorpromotionwillberemovedandtheuserbanned.FinaldecisionwillbeatthediscretionoftheTaipeiTimes. MostPopular 1Pelosicouldarrivetoday:analyst 2NowinnersifChinainvades:MarkLiu 3USspeakermakeslate-nightlanding 4PelosiinTaiwan:Chinabansimportsofover100brands 5TaiwanraisescombatalertnessasChinapostures Youmightalsolike Pelosicouldarrivetoday:analyst 2022-08-02 ARRANGEMENTSMADE: Sourcestoldthe‘LibertyTimes’thatNancyPelosicouldvisitthelegislaturetomorrowandshemightalsomeetwithPresidentTsaiIng-wenIfUSHouseofRepresentativesSpeakerNancyPelosicomestoTaiwan,shewouldlikelyarrivethiseveningortomorrowmorningaftervisitingMalaysia,aUSanalystsaidyesterday. AccordingtotheChinaPress,aMalaysianChinese-languagenewspaper,sheistoarriveinKualaLumpurtodayforhersecondstop. AlthoughtheMalaysiangovernmenthasnotannouncedanofficialitinerary,thepapercitedapersonfamiliarwiththeplansassayingshewouldonlystayforafewhours. Meanwhile,SouthKoreanNationalAssemblySpeakerKimJin-pyo’sofficeyesterdaysaidhewouldmeetwithPelosionThursdaymorningbeforeholdinganewsconferenceand BySuYung-yao,LuYin-hsuanandKayleighMadjar NowinnersifChinainvades:MarkLiu 2022-08-02 LOSE-LOSE-LOSESCENARIO: TSMC’schairmantoldCNN’sFareedZakariaamilitaryinvasionwouldrenderTSMCfactoriesinoperableandthatitwouldalsohurtChinaIfChinainvadesTaiwantherewouldbenowinnersandeveryonewouldlose,andpeopleshoulddrawlessonsfromtheRussia-Ukrainewar,whichisnotgoodforeitherside,TaiwanSemiconductorManufacturingCo(TSMC,台積電)chairmanMarkLiu(劉德音)toldCNN. TheinterviewontheFareedZakariaGPSprogramonSundaycameatatimeofheightenedcross-straittensionsamidapotentialvisittoTaiwanbyUSHouseofRepresentativesSpeakerNancyPelosi. “PeopleinTaiwanhaveearnedtheirdemocraticsystemandtheywanttochoosetheirwayoflife,”Liusaidintheinterview.“Indeed,chipsupplyisacriticalbusiness ByKaoShih-ching USspeakermakeslate-nightlanding 2022-08-03 SCHEDULE: NancyPelosiwasexpectedtovisitthelegislatureforaboutanhourbeforespeakingwithdemocracyadvocatesatJingmeiHumanRightsParkUSHouseofRepresentativesSpeakerNancyPelosiarrivedinTaipeilastnightandwasreportedlyscheduledtomeetwithPresidentTsaiIng-wen(蔡英文),legislatorsanddemocracyadvocatesbeforedepartinglatertoday. ThespeakerdepartedfromKualaLumpuryesterdayafternoonandtoucheddownatTaipeiInternationalAirport(Songshanairport)atabout10:43pm,whereshewasgreetedbyMinisterofForeignAffairsJosephWu(吳釗燮). Thestopmarksthefirsttimein25yearsthatasittingUSHousespeakerisvisitingTaiwan. Beijinghasstronglycondemnedthevisit,withChineseMinistryofForeignAffairsspokeswomanHuaChunying(華春瑩)yesterdaywarningthattheUS“will ByHsiehChun-lin,WuSu-weiandKayleighMadjar TaiwanraisescombatalertnessasChinapostures 2022-08-03 MIDWAYACTIVITY: AsourcesaidthatChineseaircraftconductedtacticalmovesofbriefly‘touching’themedianlineoftheTaiwanStraitbeforecirclingbackfromitTheMinistryofNationalDefenseyesterdayraiseditscombatalertnessleveluntilnoontomorrowinresponsetoChineselive-fireexercisesaheadofavisittoTaiwanbyUSHouseofRepresentativesSpeakerNancyPelosi. ThealertistobeadjusteddependingonthemilitarythreatfromtheChinesePeople’sLiberationArmy(PLA),asourcefamiliarwiththemattersaid. However,thesourceaddedthatcombatreadinessremainsat“normalreadiness”underthenation’stwo-tiersystemandhadnotbeenraisedto“emergencyreadiness.” BeforePelosi’sarrivalyesterday,severalChinesewarplanesflewclosetothemedianlineoftheTaiwanStrait,anothersourcetold Copyright©1999-2022TheTaipeiTimes.Allrightsreserved.