December 10, 2021
Has Washington’s Policy Toward Taiwan Crossed the Rubicon?
Testimony from officials in the State Department and Defense Department this week included subtle but important shifts in the U.S. policy toward Taiwan.
by Paul Heer
The ground shifted under Washington’s policy toward Taiwan on December 8, a shift no less seismic for being subtle and semantic. During a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner asserted that Taiwan is “a critical node within the first island chain (in the Western Pacific), anchoring a network of U.S. allies and partners … that is critical to the region’s security and critical to the defense of vital U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific.”
Although his focus was on deterring a Chinese military attack on the island, it is hard not to interpret Ratner’s statement as reflecting a judgment that Taiwan’s reunification with the mainland cannot be allowed under any circumstances. If Taiwan is a critical node and an anchor for U.S. security in the region, it must be kept out of China’s hands. Whether or not it was Ratner’s intention, that was the message received by Beijing, which will recalibrate its strategic plans accordingly.
