“We in the US must decide how serious we are about this situation,” Waldron said. “Are we going to support Ma’s initiatives? Are we going to sell weapons to him so that China will know that he has formidable friends and a formidable military at his disposal? In diplomacy there is nothing like having an aircraft carrier behind you. If you are known to be weak you are not going to do well.”
“If we want to help Ma in something that is very much in our interests — a genuine agreement between Taiwan and China in which neither side loses — we are going to have to give him something to work with,” he said.
Also See: EDITORIAL: Faleomavaega: no friend of Taiwan
Also See: Preparing for an attack from China



