To recalibrate its Cold War alliances, the US adopted its “one China policy,” a diplomatic compromise meant to engage with China and end the Vietnam War, but which left Taiwan in a state of permanent limbo.
Half a century later, the costs of that policy are mounting. Taiwan remains a democratic, technologically advanced nation of 23 million people, yet it is denied membership in international organizations and stripped of diplomatic recognition. Meanwhile, the PRC has weaponized the “one China” narrative to claim sovereignty over Taiwan, label the Taiwan Strait as its “internal waters” and threaten international shipping routes that carry more than 20 percent of global trade.
This is no longer just Taiwan’s problem. If China were to subjugate Taiwan, the ripple effects would endanger the global order. Taiwan produces more than 90 percent of the world’s most advanced semiconductors. Losing access to or control of that capability would derail the world’s future in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other critical technologies.
To avoid this, the US must first recognize a basic truth: Taiwan is already a sovereign and democratic country. US policymakers should urgently abandon strategic ambiguity and move to a stance of clarity. Taiwan possesses all the markers of statehood — territory, people, governance — and deserves recognition as such.
Second, it should continue to defend the Taiwan Strait as international waters, with multilateral naval and diplomatic actions to affirm freedom of navigation and reject China’s attempts to redefine maritime law.
Third is the importance of secure semiconductor supply chains. The US should build diversified partnerships with Taiwan’s tech sector while bolstering, not hollowing out, the nation’s domestic capabilities.
Fourth, it should support Taiwan’s participation in global organizations, reinstating the nation’s observer status in bodies such as the WHO and the International Civil Aviation Organization, and champion its contributions.
Finally, it should promote Taiwan’s democratic story: Its transition from authoritarianism to democracy is unmatched in the Chinese-speaking world. The nation’s story can counter Beijing’s narrative and inspire other emerging democracies.
The Cold War logic that once drove the “one China policy” no longer holds. China today is not a balance against Soviet power — it is a revisionist autocracy with global ambitions.
Correcting the diplomatic isolation of Taiwan is not provocation. It is moral and strategic clarity.
Tu Hsin-fu is a Taiwanese commentator and indigenous advocate.
China has not been a top-tier issue for much of the second Trump administration. Instead, Trump has focused considerable energy on Ukraine, Israel, Iran, and defending America’s borders. At home, Trump has been busy passing an overhaul to America’s tax system, deporting unlawful immigrants, and targeting his political enemies. More recently, he has been consumed by the fallout of a political scandal involving his past relationship with a disgraced sex offender. When the administration has focused on China, there has not been a consistent throughline in its approach or its public statements. This lack of overarching narrative likely reflects a combination
Behind the gloating, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) must be letting out a big sigh of relief. Its powerful party machine saved the day, but it took that much effort just to survive a challenge mounted by a humble group of active citizens, and in areas where the KMT is historically strong. On the other hand, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) must now realize how toxic a brand it has become to many voters. The campaigners’ amateurism is what made them feel valid and authentic, but when the DPP belatedly inserted itself into the campaign, it did more harm than good. The
US President Donald Trump’s alleged request that Taiwanese President William Lai (賴清德) not stop in New York while traveling to three of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, after his administration also rescheduled a visit to Washington by the minister of national defense, sets an unwise precedent and risks locking the US into a trajectory of either direct conflict with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or capitulation to it over Taiwan. Taiwanese authorities have said that no plans to request a stopover in the US had been submitted to Washington, but Trump shared a direct call with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平)
Workers’ rights groups on July 17 called on the Ministry of Labor to protect migrant fishers, days after CNN reported what it described as a “pattern of abuse” in Taiwan’s distant-water fishing industry. The report detailed the harrowing account of Indonesian migrant fisher Silwanus Tangkotta, who crushed his fingers in a metal door last year while aboard a Taiwanese fishing vessel. The captain reportedly refused to return to port for medical treatment, as they “hadn’t caught enough fish to justify the trip.” Tangkotta lost two fingers, and was fired and denied compensation upon returning to land. Another former migrant fisher, Adrian Dogdodo
RSS