Op-ed calls on Quad countries to strengthen Taiwan to counter belligerent actions by China

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/08/03
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In response to heightened tensions with China after a deadly border clash in June, an Indian news site asserted that the South Asian country should join with its Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) partners in strengthening relations with Taiwan to help keep the communist country in check.

Tensions continue to mount between India and China after the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) allegedly attacked and killed 20 Indian soldiers in the disputed border region of Ladakh in June. On Sunday (Aug. 2), Indian media outlet The Sunday Guardian posted an op-ed by Dr. Nagao Satoru, visiting fellow at the Hudson Institute, arguing why it is important for India fellow Quad members the U.S., Japan, and Australia, to strengthen ties with Taiwan to deter China's belligerent actions.

The piece listed three reasons why Taiwan is key to the Quad countries' containment of China. The first is Taiwan's strategic location between the East China Sea and South China Sea.

From the Indian point of view, if Taiwan, the U.S., and Japan team up to bolster defenses in the region, China will have to allocate more of its budget and forces to the area, rather than to its border with the South Asian county. Nagao argued that Taiwan's existence as a defended independent country currently keeps China's navy in check, while unification would enable Beijing "to use its naval power far more effectively."    [FULL  STORY]