Taiwan’s Fall to CCP Would Devastate America’s Alliance Structure in AsiaBiden’s inaction is damaging U.S. national security interests
By James E. Fanell and Bradley A. Thayer
August 22, 2023
We have argued that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is determined to conquer Taiwan, and that the U.S. must deter this outcome for our own national survival. While the CCP’s intent has been constant since 1949, Xi Jinping now has the capability to execute a military invasion of the island. As early as this Autumn, we could see Xi and the CCP attempt strong coercive measures, like a blockade of the island, or more probably an invasion. Unfortunately, the Biden administration has not provided Taiwan with the necessary conventional capabilities to defeat a blockade or an invasion.
Biden’s inaction is damaging to U.S. national security interests because Taiwan is strategic to the United States’ national security for four reasons.
The first is economic; Taiwan is a vibrant and wealthy economy—and a superpower in computer chip production. Any damage to its factories, including their destruction, or conquest by China, will reverberate for many years throughout the U.S. and global economies. There may come a day when the U.S. is no longer dependent upon Taiwanese chips, but that day is not today, and will not be for many years.
Second, Taiwan occupies a key geopolitical real estate position that both Beijing and Washington recognize. For China, Taiwan is the cork in the bottle of the first island chain, and so prevents the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and Air Force (PLAAF) from easily accessing the entirety of the Pacific Ocean. Physical control of Taiwan further expands the PRC’s power, from defending its ports from mining and to the sustaining of its Sea Line of Communication from the East and South China Seas.
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Were Taiwan to be conquered by the PRC, the humanitarian consequences for the Taiwanese people would be horrific as their democracy would be lost—falling under the yoke of the CCP. The CCP would no doubt tout that the “Beijing Consensus”—a euphemism for tyranny—is on the march, and that the “Washington Consensus”—democracy—is receding on the tide of history. In sum, if Taiwan were to fall under the control of the PRC, U.S. strategic national interests would suffer a tremendous blow.
As such, before the PRC attacks it is important to identify how U.S. interests would be affected if Taiwan were to fall. In essence, were Taiwan to fall, U.S. national security would be greatly harmed for the following reasons.
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Source:
https://amgreatness.com/2023/08/22/taiwans-fall-to-ccp-would-devastate-americas-alliance-structure-in-asia/
