The status quo benefits all parties involved. Strategic ambiguity allows (1) China to keep the issue out of the public eye and save face, (2) Taiwan to remain a de facto independent state, and (3) the US to avoid having to potentially fight a war with China over Taiwan in order to (circularly) prove that it was serious about fighting a war over Taiwan. All three of these independently desirable benefits would be destroyed if the United States gave Taiwan an explicit security guarantee.
So why would anyone want to revise the strategic ambiguity policy? Because there is one group that do not get what they want out of it: hardcore China hawks. They want a confrontation and possibly a war with China, and the surest way to get one is by revising the strategic ambiguity policy on Taiwan. Taiwanese democracy is not their goal, war with China is their goal.
My take is that China’s Xi, and Russia’s Putin for that matter, both understand that strategic patience is their best weapon in dealing with a US empire in rapid decline. Building on their mutual economic and diplomatic interests in Asia is far more important than wasting precious resources by launching a stupid attack on Taiwan.
But, when it comes to wasting resources, demonstrating military and strategic incompetence, I would definitely put my faith in Max Boot and his neocon ilk.
If Max Boot wants a war so badly, he should get his helmet and parachute and go himself.
The status quo benefits all parties involved. Strategic ambiguity allows (1) China to keep the issue out of the public eye and save face, (2) Taiwan to remain a de facto independent state, and (3) the US to avoid having to potentially fight a war with China over Taiwan in order to (circularly) prove that it was serious about fighting a war over Taiwan. All three of these independently desirable benefits would be destroyed if the United States gave Taiwan an explicit security guarantee.
So why would anyone want to revise the strategic ambiguity policy? Because there is one group that do not get what they want out of it: hardcore China hawks. They want a confrontation and possibly a war with China, and the surest way to get one is by revising the strategic ambiguity policy on Taiwan. Taiwanese democracy is not their goal, war with China is their goal.
My take is that China’s Xi, and Russia’s Putin for that matter, both understand that strategic patience is their best weapon in dealing with a US empire in rapid decline. Building on their mutual economic and diplomatic interests in Asia is far more important than wasting precious resources by launching a stupid attack on Taiwan.
But, when it comes to wasting resources, demonstrating military and strategic incompetence, I would definitely put my faith in Max Boot and his neocon ilk.