Maintaining policy of strategic ambiguity for US unlikely to maintain status quo in Taiwan Strait going forward

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/03
By: Eric Chang, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — For the last 40 years, the U.S. government has chosen a policy of strategic ambiguity in respect to whether it would come to Taiwan’s defense if it was attacked by China.

The policy serves two purposes: to make China reluctant in mounting an invasion attempt on Taiwan and to dissuade Taiwan from declaring formal independence. As ambiguity is unlikely to stop today’s China and its increasing military threats in the Asia-Pacific region, the U.S. should consider a policy of strategic clarity that makes explicit that America would respond to any use of force by China against Taiwan, according to a piece Foreign Policy by Richard Hass and David Sacks.

Maintaining a policy of ambiguity for the U.S. is unlikely to maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait going forward, as many of the reasons that made it an effective strategy are no longer viable. Beijing’s defense spending is 15 times that of Taiwan’s, while Chinese strategic planning has focused on obstructing the U.S. from being able to successfully intervene on Taiwan’s behalf, according to the report.

China now has military hardware equivalent to anything the U.S. sells to Taiwan, and as Beijing continues its military advancement, the chances that America would win in a Taiwan conflict are no longer certain. Under General Secretary Xi Jinping, China has grown more assertive in advancing its interests.    [FULL  STORY]