NEW YORK, August 4. /TASS/. The US Army is secretly holding drills with Taiwanese forces, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"Through military exchanges, we have been learning so much practical combat experience from the US," the newspaper quoted Koo Li-hsiung, also known as Wellington Koo, the head of the island’s military department, as saying. He added that Taipei’s cooperation with Washington "is far closer than you might imagine."

According to The Wall Street Journal, Koo’s statement is a rare acknowledgment of the US' illicit role in strengthening Taiwan's army.

Taiwan has been governed by its own administration since 1949, when the remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled there after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Since then, Taipei has retained the flag and some other attributes of the former Republic of China that existed on the mainland before the Communists took power. Official Beijing considers Taiwan a province of the People’s Republic of China, and most countries, including Russia, support this position.