The East China Sea represents the one area along the East Asian littoral where a shooting war between China and the US is conceivable, retired US admiral Michael McDevitt said on Thursday.
A former director of the Pentagon’s East Asia Policy office, McDevitt said that Taiwan is a “perennial flashpoint” and the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), known as the Senkakus in Japan, had now become a second flashpoint.
“If China elects to use force against Japan over those islands, there is a very real possibility that the US could become directly involved,” he told the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
At the hearing on “China’s Maritime Disputes in the East and South China Seas,” McDevitt said that “fortunately” cross-strait relations are “probably as good today as they have ever been and as a result the risk of conflict is very low.”
Nevertheless, it is important to remember that “from a sovereignty and military perspective, Taiwan is China’s biggest and most important maritime dispute,” he said.
Despite protestations of neutrality regarding sovereignty issues in the South China Sea, the US has “willingly become more deeply involved than ever before,” he said.
The US considers rule-based stability in the South China Sea to be an important national objective and as a result it has become an implicit test case of “post-rebalance” US credibility as a stabilizing power in Asia.
“The United States now has strategic skin in the game,” McDevitt said.
Asked what role, if any, Taiwan now plays in China’s maritime disputes, the retired admiral said that the Diaoyutais dispute was of “great personal interest” to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
“I can attest to his continued personal involvement to this day,” McDevitt said. “As a member of a delegation visiting Taipei I was able to ask him about the issue and received an impromptu explanation, in great detail, of all the issues involved.”
McDevitt said Taiwan constitutes China’s biggest and most important maritime dispute.
“On many different levels — political, economic, trade, academic and personal relationships — the Sino-US relationship is normal,” he said. “Sometimes it is difficult and sometimes it is cordial, but overall, mutually productive and central to the peaceful development of Asia and the economic health of the world.”
However, the “black cloud of war” hovers in the background of the relationship because of Taiwan, McDevitt said.
“As long as Beijing insists on keeping the use of force against Taiwan as one of the central tenants of its declaratory policy toward Taiwan — keeping its finger on the trigger so to speak — the possibility of conflict cannot be ruled out,” he said.
As a result, Taiwan has a decisive influence on the security relationship between Beijing and Washington, he said.
“Both defense establishments are actively planning, exercising and war gaming in order to determine how best to defeat one another in case the use of force is introduced to finally resolve the relationship between Taiwan and China,” he said.
McDevitt concluded that Taiwan directly affects the military posture of the US in East Asia because of the need to maintain a deterrent capability.
“Long range planning that informs military modernization and future concept development in both Beijing and Washington is based on the possibility of direct conflict in case China elects to use force and the US intervenes to stop it,” he said.
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
The US Department of State on Monday reaffirmed that US policy on Taiwan remains unchanged, following US President Donald Trump’s use of the term “unification” while commenting on recent trade talks with China. Speaking at a wide-ranging press conference, Trump described what he viewed as progress in trade negotiations with China held in Geneva, Switzerland, over the weekend. “They’ve agreed to open China — fully open China, and I think it’s going to be fantastic for China. I think it’s going to be fantastic for us,” Trump said. “I think it’s going to be great for unification and peace.” Trump’s use of the
RSS