China on Thursday said it “firmly” opposes military links between Taiwan and the US after it emerged that American troops were training soldiers on the self-governing island, which Beijing says is a breakaway region.
A small number of US forces are in Taiwan to train with Taiwanese soldiers, President Tsai Ing-wen said in an interview with CNN earlier on Thursday, confirming the presence of American troops on the island.
“We have a wide range of cooperation with the US aiming at increasing our defence capability,” Tsai told CNN.
Asked how many US soldiers are deployed in Taiwan, she said only that it was “not as many as people thought”.
Tension between Taiwan and China, which has not ruled out taking the island by force, has been high in recent weeks as Beijing continues to raise military and political pressure on the island, alleging an entente between Taipei and Washington.
The sharp response from the Chinese foreign ministry came as state media reported that fighter jets, special mission aircraft and attack and transport helicopters of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted a drill near Taiwan earlier this week.
