U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) said that China’s military actions against Taiwan make him concerned about the possibility of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, and that Taiwan today, like Berlin in the old Cold War, has become the center of global geopolitical competition.
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), R-Wisconsin, made the remarks on Tuesday (September 15) at the annual video conference of the Global Taiwan Institute (GTI), a Washington think tank. He recently introduced the Taiwan Defense Act in Congress with Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) and re-signed the Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act introduced by Representative Ted Yoho (R-FL). In a recent speech at the Heritage Foundation, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific David Stark announced the declassification of the Six Pledges and the Taiwan Telegram.)
In a recent speech at the Heritage Foundation, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific David Stark announced the declassification of the “six guarantees” and the arms sales cable to Taiwan, and compared the U.S. “one-China policy” to China’s “one-China principle. The U.S. should make a clear distinction between “strategic certainty” and “strategic certainty. Gallagher acknowledged this, but argued that U.S. policy toward Taiwan should go further than the six pledges and send clearer signals of “strategic certainty” to Beijing.
“I think we can and should go further than just the six pledges. In fact, in my view, strategic ambiguity is no longer useful. When you see the United States pursuing a broader global deterrent capability, there is no need for our friends and enemies anywhere else to speculate about whether the United States will stand idly by as conflict unfolds. Rather, I would say that strategic certainty is the most important cornerstone, and it’s built into the fifth clause of our entire alliance system. So I think it’s time we made it clear to Beijing that there is absolutely no chance that it would launch an aggression against Taiwan without inviting a response.”
Under Article 5 of the U.S.-NATO alliance’s Washington Treaty, an armed attack on any member of the European or North American alliance “will be considered an attack on all members.”
Gallagher, who served in the Marines, was a U.S. military intelligence officer in the Middle East and North Africa, and speaks Arabic, says Asian affairs are not his specialty, but he has spoken with many experts who know the region, and he knows that China-watchers are now debating how serious Xi is about reunifying Taiwan, whether by force or by creating a “fait accompli,” but he personally believes that Xi does intend to do so, and he also believes that this is a matter of Xi’s political legacy and that even if there is disagreement, people should be aware that this is a possible scenario.
“I do think that Taiwan today is at the center of a global geopolitical contest, perhaps in the same way that Berlin was in the old Cold War.”
On the question of whether there is an immediate risk of a crisis in the Taiwan Strait, Gallagher said he is concerned about a conflict in the Strait because U.S. adversaries may see the domestic political chaos in the U.S. as an opportunity to make geopolitical gains, so he believes the U.S. must have a coherent and workable military strategy on how to deter China, as well as a broader strategy on how to respond in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan: “We have to help Taiwan become a hedgehog that is difficult to overcome under traditional military attack,” and that is why the U.S. must end its policy of strategic ambiguity.
Gallagher said he understands that this is an issue that many are debating vigorously, but even Richard Haas, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, has expressed the same view in a recent article, and that it is a radical shift, so it should send a clear signal to U.S. foreign policy circles as well.
At the annual conference, Taiwan Foreign Minister Wu Zhao-She also delivered a pre-recorded video address, thanking the Center for Global Taiwan Studies for its contributions to advancing U.S.-Taiwan relations over the past four years, and calling on the international community to support Taiwan’s democratic presence and uphold shared democratic values.
In the case of Taiwan’s response to the new coronary pneumonia (COVID-19) epidemic, he said, “Taiwan’s example clearly proves that democratic societies handle crises more effectively than authoritarian regimes.
He said that even though Taiwan is successful in epidemic prevention, it is still excluded from the World Health Organization, so Taiwan is especially grateful for the strong support shown by the United States, including the Taipei Act passed by the U.S. Congress to strengthen Taiwan’s international space. In the post-epidemic era, the signing of a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and Taiwan is more important than ever for each other’s economies, including jobs and supply chain security, and Taiwan not only faces economic challenges, but also the PLA’s reckless military provocations against Taiwan have pushed tensions in the Taiwan Strait to a new level, but despite this, President Tsai Ing-wen emphasized that Taiwan will not be adventurous or yield to Beijing’s provocations.
Beijing wants to shake Taiwan’s people’s confidence in democracy and coerce Taiwan into accepting its political framework, but even under such difficult circumstances, the people of Taiwan still insist on defending their democratic way of life, said Wu.
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