Can a key American ally defend herself?
November 2, 2006| By Nathaniel Ward
“Taiwan’s defenses are collapsing while China’s are expanding at breathtaking speed,” report Michael Needham and John Tkacik of Heritage’s Asian Studies Center. They add that the United States government “is concerned by the general malaise among Taiwan’s political parties concerning the island’s defenses.”
These degraded defenses leave Taiwan in a bit of a bind in its discussions with the Communists on mainland China. Taipei will come to future negotiations from a position of weakness, Needham and Tkacik explain, and “their relationship with Beijing becomes one that places exclusive reliance on Beijing’s good will.”
“There is little sense in America’s continued support of Taiwan’s defenses if Taiwan has no intention of using them to deter attack by the Chinese,” they conclude. But there are steps that can be taken before we reach that point, including continued American cooperation on military equipment sales and a new Taiwanese commitment to pass a strong defense budget.
Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation.