[reincarnate0x14]

There are, and have been, US troops unofficially stationed in Taiwan the whole time even after the official bases were closed in the 70s. The US recently expanded the footprint of AIT, their technically-not-an-embassy facility in Taipei and built another in Kaohsiung. US personnel are present in some capacity at basically all ROC air force bases and at the over-the-horizon radar facilities used to monitor east Asia.

This has been an open secret for decades, recently causing a bit of a laugh when a US serviceman was in the background of a publicity photo of president Tsai Ing-wen touring a radar installation.

US policy of not deliberately provoking China over the Taiwan issue doesn't mean the US hasn't maintained a policy of nuclear deterrence over Taiwan since the Eisenhower administration. The PRC and US are well aware, and have extensively war-gamed, that a US/China military confrontation will very likely escalate to nuclear war. The US sailing a carrier or cruiser through the strait every time the PRC makes loud noises is reaffirming the status quo.