Time To End U.S. ‘Ambiguity’ on Taiwan

President Obama speaks at the Pentagon

With China’s emergence as an economic powerhouse, and its concurrent military buildup, ambiguity has  lost its effectiveness and is now an invitation for adventurism 

For the more than three decades since the United States’ recognition of the People’s Republic of China, Washington has relied on strategic ambiguity to deter China from using force against Taiwan. Although the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, passed by Congress after U.S. President Jimmy Carter established diplomatic relations with Beijing, calls for the U.S. to help Taiwan defend itself, in application the U.S. has often kept the two sides guessing at its willingness to intervene in a conflict, and if so, in what capacity. 

Such ambiguity worked for three decades, but it won’t last for much longer. 

My article, published today in The Diplomat, continues here.