“A good move in Ukraine would have been to arm it to the teeth,” says historian Frank Dikötter. “A good move today with Taiwan would be to arm it to the teeth.”
Dikötter was responding to Peter Robinson, host of Hoover Institution’s Uncommon Knowledge program, who asked if the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy, published last November, was “a good move.” The document states that “Deterring a conflict over Taiwan . . . is a priority,”
Note how quickly “the most widely read living historian of modern China” bee-lined from the published strategy paper to the question of actual military might.
“Taiwan is essential,” Dikötter added emphatically. “Absolutely essential.”
But why, though? The National Security Strategy explains it is “partly because of Taiwan’s dominance of semiconductor production” — everyone brings that up — “but mostly because Taiwan provides direct access to the Second Island Chain and splits Northeast and Southeast Asia into two distinct theaters.”
If you are thinking that’s just war talk, think again: “Given that one-third of global shipping passes annually through the South China Sea, this has major implications for the U.S. economy.”
And the world’s, I might add.
Later, Robinson asked if the historian had any advice to offer President Trump. He touched on containment and reciprocity and then offered a third bit of counsel regarding China . . .
Dikötter: Stand up. Stand Up. Stand up. This is a big bully that huffs and puffs but its aircraft carriers aren’t all that great, its economy isn’t all that great, its political stability isn’t all that stable.
Robinson: So you would recommend a president . . .
Dikötter: Be a little tougher.
Robinson: . . . call them out, like Ronald Reagan called out the Soviets?
Dikötter: Yes, exactly!
It may very well be that the more we Americans call out the CCP — the more we stand up against the bully — the more our leaders will follow.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
Illustration created with Nano Banana
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One reply on “To the Teeth”
Stand up to China the way Reagan called out the Soviets? How?
When President Reagan called out the Soviets, we didn’t have American companies based in Russia and employing Russians to make our devices. After what we thought was the end of the cold war, globalization took hold. Some of our most vital industries moved to China in search of cheaper labor and facilitated the transfer of vital technology. China’s goods may be inferior to what was once produced in the West, but we empowered them and threw American workers to the curb. Today, there is no Deng Xiao Ping leading China. Even if its economy isn’t that great, that doesn’t mean it’s on the ropes. We made ourselves dependent on China, in a way that we never did with Russia. Don’t look to the American people to call out the CCP. How many Americans want to give up their I-phones?