According to a media report, the US elite force “Seal Team 6” is training for a possible conflict with China over Taiwan. Meanwhile, pressure on the island republic is growing.
The elite force “Seal Team 6” is always called in when things get tricky. The secretive US Navy special forces were involved in the killing of Al-Qaeda terrorist Osama bin Laden and in 2009 freed the container ship captain Richard Phillips and his crew from the clutches of Somali pirates. With Tom Hanks in the lead role, the spectacular operation even made it to the big screen a few years later.
Now the elite soldiers are apparently preparing for an even more explosive mission: As the Financial Times citing unnamed sources, the troops are training for a possible war between China and Taiwan. Preparations for an emergency have been underway for more than a year in Dam Neck, the unit’s headquarters in the US state of Virginia. What exactly is being trained there, however, has not been disclosed. The Navy command responsible for “Seal Team 6” did not want to comment on the Financial Times The Pentagon did not comment on the matter; the newspaper only told the Pentagon in rather general terms that the US armed forces “are preparing and training for a wide range of eventualities”.
Conflict between China and Taiwan: Germany also shows its presence
“It should come as no surprise that Seal Team 6 is planning possible operations in connection with Taiwan,” security expert Sean Naylor told Financial Times“With the Pentagon’s reorientation in recent years toward great power competition, it was inevitable that even the nation’s elite counterterrorism units would seek roles in this area because that leads to relevance, contracts and money.”
The People’s Republic of China views Taiwan as a renegade province and has been threatening for decades to incorporate the democratically governed island state by force if necessary. Beijing is also trying to isolate the government in Taipei internationally. And with success: only twelve mostly smaller states still maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan; the USA does not recognize the government of President Lai Ching-te either. Washington, however, stresses that the conflict can only be resolved peacefully and has committed itself to equipping Taiwan with weapons for defense. In addition, the US Department of Defense has been training Taiwanese soldiers for years.
Germany also has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan. However, the German government is also insisting on a peaceful solution to the conflict. This week, Berlin also plans to send a warship through the Taiwan Strait, the strait that separates China from Taiwan, for the first time in 22 years. With this symbolic act, the German government wants to show that, like many other Western states, it views the Taiwan Strait as international waters.
When will China launch an attack on Taiwan?
Meanwhile, military pressure on Taiwan remains high. China sends fighter jets and warships near the island every day; on Thursday, for example, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense counted 29 fighter jets and eight ships of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. Most recently, China held large-scale military maneuvers around Taiwan after the swearing-in of Taiwan’s new President Lai at the end of May.
Beijing is also continuing to put psychological pressure on Taipei. A few weeks ago, the Chinese government published a list of the names of ten Taiwanese politicians whom Beijing describes as “incorrigible separatists”, including Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim. Beijing had previously threatened alleged separatists with the death penalty.
It is completely unclear whether and when China will get serious and launch an attack on Taiwan. Observers in the USA in particular assume that the People’s Liberation Army could be militarily capable of doing so in 2027, the 100th anniversary of its founding. In addition to a large-scale attack, experts also consider other scenarios to be conceivable, such as a blockade of the island or a quarantine.
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