Ryan Hass is a senior fellow and the Chen-Fu and Cecilia Yen Koo Chair in Taiwan Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he also holds the Michael H. Armacost Chair in the Foreign Policy program. In this article for the Taipei Times, Hass offered the following opinions:
“Since the end of World War II, there have been periods when prominent American voices have argued that Taiwan is a strategic asset for the United States that must be kept from China. In the early 1950s, General Douglas MacArthur described Taiwan as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” that would be critical to America’s ability to project force in the Pacific. Later, in the 1950s and 1960s, American leaders came to view Taiwan as a strategic liability, fearing that Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) would drag the United States into war with China. Then, in America’s post-Cold War unipolar moment, a group of neoconservatives urged the United States to do whatever it took to prevent Taiwan from unifying with the People’s Republic of China. Today, a similar set of arguments is reemerging in America’s debates over its policy toward Taiwan.”
“Recently, the US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) reportedly said, “If China was to win control of Taiwan, it would be disastrous for the US, even if China did not use military force.” In other words, Taiwan is a critical node that must be kept on America’s side in its great power rivalry with China…….To their credit, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her deputies have attempted to push back against statements by American officials they judged ran counter to their interests. For example, the Tsai administration rejected calls by Senator Josh Hawley and others to abandon Ukraine to focus resources and attention on Taiwan’s security. Instead, they argued forcefully and publicly that Ukraine’s success is important for Taiwan’s security. The Tsai administration also lobbied the Biden administration to stop arguing that the United States’ dependence on Taiwan for semiconductor chips is ‘unsafe and untenable'”.
“For Washington, the topmost priority is ensuring that Taiwan is healthy, resilient, and confident in its own future. Since the end of World War II, America’s focus has been on preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Washington’s goal has been to keep a path open for an eventual resolution of cross-Strait differences, and to insist that any resolution be reached peacefully and in a manner that reflects the views of the people of Taiwan.”
“Viewing Taiwan as a strategic asset is inconsistent with these goals. Doing so forecloses paths to eventual resolution of cross-Strait differences on terms acceptable to Taiwan, rather than keeping them open. Instead, such thinking acts as an accelerant to conflict by positioning Taiwan as a prize to be fought over by the United States and China.”