News Update on September 12, 2024:
According to sources, the US Navy SEAL Team 6, which famously killed Osama Bin Laden in 2011, has been training for over a year in preparation to assist Taiwan in the event of a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) invasion.
The SEAL Team 6 is the most elite special forces unit in the US military, tasked with handling the most sensitive and challenging missions, alongside the Army’s Delta Force.
Sources informed the Financial Times that for over a year, the team has been training and planning for a potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait at the Dam Neck Naval Base in Virginia Beach, approximately 250 kilometers southeast of Washington D.C.
The training program for SEAL Team 6 serves two main purposes – to enhance deterrence against the CCP’s aggression towards Taiwan and to elevate readiness in case of an actual invasion order from China.
In 2021, then-US Indo-Pacific Commander Philip Davidson warned that China could potentially launch an attack on Taiwan within the next six years, prompting the US military to ramp up its preparedness.
While US officials emphasize that a conflict with China is neither imminent nor unavoidable, they also caution that China aims to have the capability to invade Taiwan by 2027. Consequently, the US military has accelerated its emergency readiness efforts.
Reports from Taiwan indicate that US Army Special Forces Green Beret advisors have been stationed in Taiwan, providing training assistance to Taiwan’s Amphibious Special Operations Forces.
However, the activities of SEAL Team 6 are far more sensitive, and the specifics of their mission remain highly classified with sources familiar with the team’s plans refraining from disclosing any mission details.
With the reduction of terrorist threats, both US military special forces and intelligence agencies have heightened their focus on China.
Under the Taiwan Relations Act, the US is obligated to provide defensive weaponry to Taiwan and ensure Taiwan has access to defense materials and technical services necessary to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities.
For years, the US has adhered to a policy of “strategic ambiguity,” refraining from clearly stating whether it would defend Taiwan in order to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait. However, President Joe Biden has reiterated that the US military will defend Taiwan in the face of baseless aggression from China.
Recently, Admiral Samuel Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, stated that there is a plan to deploy thousands of unmanned submarines, surface vessels, and drones in the Taiwan Strait to deter CCP military aggression. Should Chinese forces attempt to cross the strait, this plan would instantly turn the Taiwan Strait into a “hellish scenario,” buying time for Taiwan, the US, and their allies.