The Pentagon is reportedly moving forward with a potentially provocative plan to station U.S. defense personnel inside the Taiwan defense ministry for the first time. South China Morning Post, citing reports in the Taiwanese media, reported on Monday that the Pentagon plans to send one official from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and one expert from the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) to work on a long-term basis at the defense ministry’s headquarters in Taipei. The two would aid policy coordination and combat-capability assessments under an expanded “Taiwan-US Defense Ministry Joint Cooperation Assessment” program that would run from this year to 2028, according to the reports.

If confirmed, the arrangement would mark a significant change from the existing U.S. military presence in Taiwan, where American personnel have generally worked as trainers or through the American Institute in Taiwan, Washington’s de facto embassy on the self-ruled island. The reports said the U.S. representatives could provide on-site advice on overall defense planning, war games for Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang exercises, and assessments of major weapons-procurement programs.