No wonder Taiwan is going ahead, despite a typhoon battering the island, with its annual war games.
China threatens. And threatens. And threatens.
As discussed yesterday, it is unclear just how committed a Trump 47 administration would be to protecting Taiwan.
President Joe Biden, on the other hand, has repeatedly pledged to engage U.S. military forces in defense against China. But since he is physically and cognitively unable to run for the presidency, are we safe letting Joe hang out at the White House for the next six months performing the “lesser” job of being America’s commander-in-chief?
That position might suddenly take on a less sleepy character.
Just prior to Biden’s Oval Office address, NORAD disclosed that it had “scrambled fighter jets to intercept two Russian Tu-95 ‘Bear’ bombers and two Chinese H‑6 bombers off the coast of Alaska.”
Lately, the Philippines has gotten most of the CCP’s bullying, enforcing their ridiculous claim to 90 percent of the South China Sea. The U.S. has an unambiguous treaty obligation to the Philippines.
On the other hand, the U.S. position toward Taiwan, right there 80 miles off the Chinese coast, is friendly … but the U.S. doesn’t officially recognize Taiwan as a country and our policy toward its defense remains one of “strategic ambiguity.”
Still, unless the U.S. plans to leave Asia, and maybe even then, we will have to stand up to China. Best to draw that line, to mount that defense at Taiwan.
Why?
- Because of the island’s worldwide dominance in producing vital computer chips, a New York Times headline declared, “Pound for Pound, Taiwan Is the Most Important Place in the World.” Kept free, that is.
- But it’s more than that: without a free Taiwan uniting Japan and the Philippines in the “first island chain,” China can divide those two countries — both of which the U.S. is treaty-bound to defend — and conquer.
- Taiwan is freedom and democracy’s success story of the last half-century, successfully throwing off four decades of martial law authoritarianism to become, arguably, Asia’s freest and most democratic nation.
Making it in my interest and yours to disallow the snuffing out of freedom on the other side of the globe.
We need a president who knows the world is a dangerous place, understands how critical Taiwan is, and levels with the American people about the challenges ahead.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
—
See all recent commentary
(simplified and organized)