Former US deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger yesterday said Taiwan’s “silicon shield” would not deter China from invading the country.
Pottinger made the remark during a teleconference in Taipei when asked about a possible timeline for Beijing to be capable of launching a full-scale invasion of Taiwan.
The former White House official said that people could speculate about a timeline for a cross-strait war, but what was important for all parties involved was to take every possible step to deter that invasion “from ever taking place.”
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
He went on to dismiss the popular notion that a “silicon shield,” meaning Taiwan’s strength in producing advanced semiconductors, would help it deter a Chinese invasion.
“I don’t think that there is such a thing as a silicon shield,” he said.
The leadership in Beijing, whose members have been trained under “Leninist dictatorships,” does not share the same logic as people in democratic societies, he said.
“And therefore, I think we should not — we should not kid ourselves that there is a silicon shield,” he added.
On the contrary, talks in China have suggested that Taiwan’s chip industry gives Beijing a reason to invade.
“I’ve seen some Chinese nationalistic lectures and public figures who give public talks saying that Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors is a reason why Beijing should invade Taiwan,” he said, adding that what the US and Taiwan should do instead is deter an invasion at all costs.
Commenting on recent debate over Taiwan’s purchase of anti-tank mines and mine-dispersal systems from the US, Pottinger said the sales are intended to meet Taiwan’s defensive needs amid rising Chinese aggression.
“I would ask that people who were raising concerns about that system, [to] also vocalize concerns about the significant increase in missiles and rockets that the PLA [Chinese People’s Liberation Army] is deploying against Taiwan right now,” he added.
A number of opposition politicians and environmentalists have questioned the army’s decision to buy anti-tank munitions through a proposed purchase of Volcano minelaying systems from the US, saying it would litter Taiwan with landmines.
They also said the proposed deal, which was approved by Washington last month, of contravening the UN Ottawa Treaty.
The army has said that it had purchased only metal-cased anti-vehicle mines that would not be accidentally triggered by people stepping on them, adding that such munitions would only be deployed in the event of war.
The army also said that the sale did not breach local laws and international treaties such as the Ottawa Treaty, which only regulates the use of anti-personnel landmines.
Pottinger is a former journalist for Reuters and China-based correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. He served in the US Marine Corps, and from Sept. 22, 2019, to Jan. 7, 2021, he was US deputy national security adviser under then-US president Donald Trump.
Taipei on Thursday held urban resilience air raid drills, with residents in one of the exercises’ three “key verification zones” reporting little to no difference compared with previous years, despite government pledges of stricter enforcement. Formerly known as the Wanan exercise, the air raid drills, which concluded yesterday, are now part of the “Urban Resilience Exercise,” which also incorporates the Minan disaster prevention and rescue exercise. In Taipei, the designated key verification zones — where the government said more stringent measures would be enforced — were Songshan (松山), Zhongshan (中山) and Zhongzheng (中正) districts. Air raid sirens sounded at 1:30pm, signaling the
The number of people who reported a same-sex spouse on their income tax increased 1.5-fold from 2020 to 2023, while the overall proportion of taxpayers reporting a spouse decreased by 4.4 percent from 2014 to 2023, Ministry of Finance data showed yesterday. The number of people reporting a spouse on their income tax trended upward from 2014 to 2019, the Department of Statistics said. However, the number decreased in 2020 and 2021, likely due to a drop in marriages during the COVID-19 pandemic and the income of some households falling below the taxable threshold, it said. The number of spousal tax filings rebounded
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern
RSS