TT: Do you think there has been an enhancement of military ties between Taiwan and the US following the change of the US administration?
Gertz: There has been some contact, but I do not know whether there is a military-to-military program. I don't think they have that yet. I would think that would be a useful thing to do, especially as the president has said the US will do "whatever it takes" to defend Taiwan. The logical question from that is "how would the US defend Taiwan?" I recall a situation that was related to me by a defense official. Admiral Dennis Blair [Commander in chief of the US' Pacific forces] went to China a year or so ago. He tried to clarify the US position on Taiwan as that the US would defend Taiwan if it were attacked. And I was told that the Chinese dismissed at the time Blair's statement as laughable bluster. And the Chinese said: "You could not defend Taiwan because first, your ships do not visit Taiwanese ports, second, you do not have communication with the Taiwanese military, and third, you do not hold exercises with the Taiwanese military."
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