Annexing Taiwan would be Beijing’s first step toward global domination, former US deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger said on Monday.
Pottinger made the remarks in an online seminar, titled “The View of the Taiwan Strait from the US-Japan Alliance,” held by the RAND Corporation, Radio Free Asia reported.
The world lacks understanding of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) long-term ambitions for the world, which is not only to remove US influence in the Asia-Pacific region, but also to put international order under Chinese control, he said.
Photo: AP
If the international community wants to prevent a war in the Taiwan Strait, the US, Japan and other countries should “dent China’s confidence in wars” and let it know that invading Taiwan would be “very likely to fail and take ages,” he added.
Pottinger called on the US and Japan to “make a clearer promise to Taiwan regarding its security” so that Beijing would not think that the US is too afraid to make a promise and resort to force against Taiwan.
Taiwan has to show the will to safeguard its land, freedom and sovereignty, which is the decisive factor in deterring China from using force, he added.
“No war results from accidents,” he said, adding that wars usually break out because the aggressor is too optimistic about its power and thinks the benefits of starting a conflict outweigh those of solving problems peacefully.
Taiwan should provide more comprehensive military training to its recruits to show China the possible costs of an invasion, he said.
Cortez Cooper, a senior researcher on international and national security issues at the RAND Corporation, pointed to Taiwan’s strategic importance.
Taiwan is crucial to Japan and the US’ allies in the region, as it is in the middle of the first island chain, which straddles crucial international shipping routes, he said.
In addition, the international community relies heavily on Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, he said, adding that the nation is also the “beacon of democracy in Asia.”
Beijing has no intention of solving cross-strait issues peacefully, which is evident in its control of Hong Kong, so the US cannot let Taiwan fall into the hands of an authoritarian regime, he said.
Asked whether the adoption of clear strategies on Taiwan by the US and Japan might exacerbate cross-strait tensions, Cooper said that letting Beijing know that the US and Japan have made promises to Taiwan can “effectively deter China’s expansion.”
Yasuhiro Matsuda, a professor of international politics at the University of Tokyo, said the US has a responsibility to protect Taiwan.
If China annexed Taiwan, Japan would have doubts over the US’ security promises and defense capability, Matsuda added.
Separately, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) told Sky News on Monday that “China is using the Taiwan Strait as a playground” to test the bottom line of the international community.
China has taken more abrasive and provocative actions against Taiwan, including sending fighter jets into the skies around Taiwan and launching large-scale military drills near the country, which showed its ambition to unilaterally change the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait, he said.
China’s ambition poses threats not only to Taiwan, but also to the rest of the world, he added.
Additional reporting by Lu Yi-hsuan
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