Taiwan and the US are deepening military cooperation, a sign of closer defense ties that will likely irritate Beijing.

• A joint Taiwan-US defense assessment program is being upgraded and expanded.
• Washington plans to post two experts long-term inside Taiwan's Defense Ministry — one from the war department's policy office, one from the Institute for Defense Analyses.
• The program runs over three budget years and is worth several hundred million Taiwan dollars.
• Taiwan's Defense Ministry confirmed that military exchanges with the US are deepening but refused to discuss how the arrangement will work.

Outlook: Expect China to protest any permanent American defense presence in Taipei, while the two sides keep the operational details quiet.