A report published on Tuesday by US-based China academics advises US President Donald Trump’s administration to assist Taiwan’s capability in asymmetrical warfare while taking a balanced approach to China that pressures Beijing on harmful conduct while remaining open to dialogue and cooperation.
The report, titled Course Correction: Toward an Effective and Sustainable China Policy, was jointly written by Asia Society’s Center on US-China Relations and the 21st Century China Center at the University of California, San Diego.
China has shown a desire to pressure Taiwan’s government toward unification, and deter or delay US intervention in a conflict over Taiwan, which could lead to an US-China armed conflict given the US’ commitment to peaceful development of the cross-strait relations, the report says.
Photo courtesy of Chiang Kuan-lun
“The United States must stand ready to deter unprovoked military aggression by Beijing against Taiwan,” it says, adding that the US “should assist Taiwan in developing asymmetric capabilities to hold off the massively superior People’s Liberation Army [PLA] forces until the United States can bring forces to bear.”
The presence of robust shore batteries, improved air defenses, mobile response units and sea mines to counter landing craft can all pose major problems to the PLA, it adds.
China’s ramping up of its military drills near Taiwan’s borders has caused cross-strait relations to grow tenser day by day, and the US must respond to this and other unilateral actions taken by China, including its militarization of the South China Sea, the report says.
The peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s relationship to China must involve democratic decisionmaking by Taiwanese, failing which the US must have a military strategy in place to come to Taiwan’s aid in holding back China, the report says.
As China would likely attempt a blockade of Taiwan during an armed conflict, the US should also “encourage Taiwan to develop deeper strategic reserves of key materials and to create better logistic linkages between smaller ports and population centers,” it says.
The US must not neglect its version of the “one China” policy, but it must also prevent attempts at forcible “reunification,” which would destabilize the Taiwan Strait, the report says.
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
RSS