U.S. Air Force Plans to Intervene in Armed Conflicts across Taiwan Strait

A U.S. Air Force cadre said that the U.S. Army will take out surface ships approaching the Taiwan Strait if armed conflicts occur, a Hong Kong-based Chinese daily newspaper Wen Hui Bao reported on Monday.

According to the paper, the military official answered a question at the Air Force Warfare Symposium held on February 25 whether the U.S. has intention to intervene if China blocks Taiwan.

He said, "If an armed conflict occurs in the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. Army will help Taiwan, and the U.S. Navy will sink Chinese ships to eliminate military threats toward Taiwan." He added that the U.S. will use its Air Force units stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, the largest air base in East Asia, to address the conflict.

A researcher at the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments, a U.S. government think tank, confirmed that the U.S. Air Force performed a military operation in the Pacific last summer against mock Chinese ships, supporting a possible U.S. counteraction plan against any Taiwan Strait military conflict.

Yoo-Seong Hwang yshwang@donga.com