Taiwan admits paying for retired US general to observe largest annual war games

Taiwan’s defence ministry has confirmed for the first time that it has allocated funding for the US Indo-Pacific Command to send a retired general and other personnel to observe the island’s largest annual war games.

The disclosure sheds rare official light on military exchanges that Taipei and Washington have traditionally kept out of public view, as security cooperation between the two sides deepens amid growing pressure from Beijing.

According to a defence ministry report submitted to the legislature last week, NT$82.4 million (US$2.5 million) has been allocated for a programme covering the Han Kuang exercises in 2026 and 2027, including NT$41.219 million this year.

The Annual Assessment by Senior Observers and Exchanges programme pays for a retired American general to serve as a senior observer during the exercises, as well as a delegation of military professionals and civilian personnel organised by the US Indo-Pacific Command.

The American observers assessed the drills according to their training objectives and gave recommendations on improving the Taiwanese military’s joint operational capabilities, the ministry said.

Their findings are incorporated into the final Han Kuang exercise report and used as a reference for the military’s force development and combat preparations.

The details were disclosed after opposition Kuomintang lawmaker Ma Wen-chun questioned the programme’s implementation, the seniority of personnel being sent to Taiwan and its expected benefits.

Lawmakers froze NT$1 million of the funding and required the ministry to submit a written explanation before it could be released.

Reports of American military personnel observing Han Kuang are not new, but the defence ministry has previously avoided confirming details of their participation.

During the 41st Han Kuang exercise last year, local media reported that retired US Army four-star general Robert B. Abrams, a former commander of US Forces Korea, had served as a senior observer and adviser to Taiwan’s chief of the general staff, Admiral Mei Chia-shu.

The ministry declined at the time to comment on individual cases.

According to Max Lo, executive director of the Taiwan International Strategic Study Society, a Taipei-based think tank, the significance of the latest disclosure lay less in Taipei paying for the programme than in its acknowledgement that retired senior American officers were involved.

“There have long been reports that the US sends personnel to Taiwan to observe the Han Kuang exercises, but the defence ministry has always declined to comment,” Lo said.

“This is the first time the defence ministry has confirmed that senior US observers participate in Han Kuang.”

Lo said the acknowledgement suggested that Taipei and Washington were becoming less reluctant to disclose sensitive military exchanges that would previously have been kept under wraps.

“This is mainly because Taiwan-US relations have become increasingly close while tensions across the Taiwan Strait have also risen,” he added.

“By making these military exchanges public, they can send a message to mainland China that the United States remains firmly supportive of Taiwan.”

Lo said Beijing had previously lodged strong protests over such military exchanges, but its reactions recently appeared less forceful.

“[US President Donald] Trump has repeatedly said that Xi Jinping would not attack Taiwan while he is in office,” Lo continued, referring to the Chinese president. “This could mean that the two leaders have reached some degree of understanding about the possibility of conflict in the Taiwan Strait.”

Lo said a greater willingness by Taipei and Washington over the past two years to disclose such exchanges could be intended to test Beijing’s reaction.

“If mainland China does not react strongly, Taiwan and the US could move towards deeper military exchanges, ultimately testing where Beijing’s bottom line lies,” he added.

According to Chieh Chung, a research fellow at the Association of Strategic Foresight, the American observers also served an important practical purpose.

“Taiwan has increasingly adopted US recommendations in areas including military training, modernisation of its ‘kill chain’ and special operations, making direct observation necessary for Washington to determine whether its advice is producing the intended results,” he said.

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The visits allowed the US side to identify the strengths and shortcomings of its recommendations and military exchanges with Taiwan, as well as make subsequent adjustments, Chieh added.

One particular focus was assessing the results of American help in training Taiwanese instructors, he said, especially in reserve mobilisation and training.

Taiwanese officials have acknowledged increasingly close military cooperation with Washington while remaining reluctant to disclose operational details.

Defence Minister Wellington Koo Li-hsiung said in August that Taiwan was drawing on US combat experience to improve its forces’ operational capabilities.

Asked about the presence of US personnel – sometimes euphemistically referred to in Taiwan as “American English teachers” – Koo said those visible to the public represented only part of the exchanges.

The latest disclosure comes amid signs that other previously discreet areas of Taiwan-US defence cooperation are becoming more visible.

Earlier reports said the Pentagon was preparing to station representatives from its policy office and experts from the non-profit Institute for Defence Analyses inside Taiwan’s defence ministry under a separate NT$470 million cooperation programme.

Analysts said such moves could serve both operational and strategic purposes: allowing Washington to more directly assess Taiwan’s military preparations while signalling US security commitments in the Indo-Pacific to Beijing and American allies.

Beijing regards Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary.

Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-ruled island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.