TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan delegation at the annual United States-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference hopes for exchanges with the U.S. National Guard, reports said Tuesday (Oct. 12).

While the Ministry of National Defense (MND) did not send a delegation to the Oct. 10-12 event because of the COVID-19 pandemic, military representatives already in the U.S. did take part in the discussions in Leesburg, Virginia.

In a speech at the conference, Taiwan’s chief military envoy in the U.S. Yu Chien-feng (余劍鋒) first explained the growing nature of China’s threats against the country, including the almost daily intrusions of Chinese military planes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (AIDZ), CNA reported. Recent military maneuvers by the communist country were also more specifically targeted and more realistic, he said.

Yu went on to shed light on Taiwan’s plans to reform its military reserves system. Once its Defense Reserve Mobilization Agency launches in January 2022, it should be able to conduct mutual visits and exchanges with the U.S. National Guard, the major general said.

Online attack and defense drills and exchanges of intelligence were also useful aspects for future U.S.-Taiwan military cooperation, according to Yu. The officer closed off his conference address with a call for more U.S. military repair and maintenance facilities to be stationed in Taiwan, which would raise the efficiency of both the Taiwan military and of U.S. forces active in the Asia-Pacific region.