Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, called on the U.S. military to maintain sufficient forces with allies to send the message, “Mainland China, don’t invade Taiwan or you’ll lose your wife and your troops. The picture shows the Han Kwang exercise anti-landing drills.
The Associated Press reported on the 7th, the U.S. military recently frequently warned China is speeding up the pace of the seizure of Taiwan, not only highlights the fact that Taiwan is the source of tension between Washington and Beijing for decades, but also makes the outside world worry that the Taiwan Strait has become a trigger for war between the United States and land. In response, U.S. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith called on the U.S. military to maintain sufficient forces with its allies so that Beijing can receive a clear message that “the mainland, do not invade Taiwan, or you will lose your wife and your troops”.
Smith, a Democrat, recently attended an online conference to question the U.S. military’s obsession with leadership. He argued that from the way the world works today, it is undoubtedly an unrealistic expectation for one country to dominate the international system. What the U.S. military should do, he argued, is to strengthen cooperation with its allies so that the relationship can demonstrate sufficient strength and thus send a clear message to Beijing, “Don’t ever commit a Taiwan, because you’ll lose your wife and lose your army.”
As Beijing continues to build its military over time, and is not shy about showing its newly acquired power. These have made it increasingly aggressive in its actions toward Taiwan and more assertive in the South China Sea sovereignty dispute, and have also made the tug-of-war between Washington and Beijing increasingly intense. The most direct example of this was the U.S.-China talks in Alaska in March, where Secretary of State Blinken and Chinese representative Yang Jiechi exchanged heated words.
However, Beijing’s commitment to Taiwan will test U.S. support for the Belle Isle. For the Biden administration, it can either abandon a friendly and democratic political entity or take a big risk by waging an all-out war for a democratic island that most Americans care little about. The United States has long pledged to assist in Taiwan’s defense; however, Washington has been deliberately vague about where the United States should go in the event of a real conflict in the Taiwan Strait, and has been reluctant to say how deeply it would get involved.
A growing number of views share the administration’s view that mainland China has become the primary challenge to the United States and that the U.S. must do more as soon as possible in military, diplomatic and other areas to deter Beijing from replacing the United States as the dominant power in Asia. Some U.S. military brass even emphasized that Taiwan has become the most urgent fuse.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Davidson said that “existing indications are that the risk is rising” and that China’s “military threat to Taiwan will emerge within 10 years; in fact, it will emerge in as soon as six years. Although Davidson’s successor, John Aquilino, does not agree with the six-year figure, he also agrees that the threat of mainland China committing Taiwan is closer than imagined.
In addition, U.S. Defense Secretary Austin only recently called Beijing an “advancing threat” and adjusted the strategies of the military services. For example, after 20 years of counter-terrorism ground combat in the Middle East, the Marine Corps strategy has officially shifted to focus on mainland China and Russia.
The continued military modernization of mainland China is hardly a cause for concern for the United States. According to U.S. Strategic Command Commander Richard Lee, Beijing is thriving as a rival competitor to the United States. In the next 10 years, China’s nuclear stockpile will grow to twice that of the United States, if not triple or quadruple that of the United States. Not surprisingly, the Pentagon also believes that China’s nuclear stockpile will grow at least twice as large in the next 10 years.
However, Taiwan has finally become the most urgent issue between the U.S., China and Taiwan. Compared to the military’s position, civilian officials in the Biden administration have struck a more moderate tone, but have stressed that they will deepen relations with Taiwan, which has led Beijing to repeatedly warn Washington not to interfere in its internal affairs.
U.S. officials pointed out that the Communist forces are staged almost daily around Taiwan, with the objectives including spreading threats, weakening Taiwan’s air force, understanding more about Taiwan’s capabilities and ultimately achieving the goal of scaring and deterring Taiwan.
For when the mainland will unify Taiwan, the outside world is always unable to say, and there is no consensus within the United States, which makes Stanford University Hoover Institution researcher Dai Yamen (Larry Diamond) believes that Beijing’s leaders may not be ready for cross-strait unification; “I don’t think this thing (cross-strait unification) will happen anytime soon “.
The Trump era has taken a series of actions to demonstrate a firm commitment to Taiwan; in August 2020, he even sent Health Secretary Alex Azar to visit Taiwan, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Taiwan since diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed in 1979.
In contrast, Biden revealed his desire to cooperate with Beijing on the one hand, while expressing opposition to the mainland’s actions in the South China Sea, Taiwan Strait, human rights in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and other issues. U.S. Ambassador to Palau John Hennessey-Niland visited Taiwan at the end of March, becoming the first U.S. ambassador to visit the country since the break in diplomatic relations between the United States and Taiwan.
China has often been a target of the U.S. Congress, which passed the Pacific Deterrence Initiative proposed by Indo-Pacific Commander Davidson as a response to the military growth of the mainland. The plan is worth $2.2 billion, and Davidson expects to set up better air defense systems in Guam to protect the island from mainland missile attacks and even maintain U.S. military superiority in the Indo-Pacific region.
However, it is this idea that makes Smith question why the U.S. military is pursuing the dominance of the Indo-Pacific region. Looking at the current international situation, it is an unrealistic expectation for one country to dominate the region. The United States should bet on its allies, such as Taiwan, to deter Beijing from the idea of an attack on Taiwan.
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